Internet-of-things device autonomous activation

ABSTRACT

Various techniques are described herein for autonomously registering and/or activating Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, provisioning wireless network access of those devices, and connecting the IoT device to an NB-IoT network with agreed-to terms for network usage. In various embodiments, IoT devices may be configured to negotiate for NB-IoT network access by (i) sharing their data with the NB-IoT network provider, (ii) security storing and using cryptocurrency to obtain NB-IoT network access, and/or (iii) automatically providing the NB-IoT network provider with access to data from other associated IoT devices and/or with payment from a separate payment provider. Individual IoT devices may be preconfigured with negotiation terms for NB-IoT network access, pre-associated with other devices/users, and/or pre-loaded with cryptocurrency in a secure storage.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a non-provisional of and claims priority toU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/787,056, filed Dec. 31, 2018,entitled “INTERNET-OF-THINGS DEVICE AUTONOMOUS ACTIVATION.” The entirecontents of provisional application no. 62/787,056 is incorporatedherein by reference for all purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the activation and use ofInternet-of-Things (IoT) devices over narrowband Internet-of-Things(NB-IoT) networks.

BACKGROUND

Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) refers to a standards-based lowpower wide area (LPWA) technology that can be used to support a widerange of IoT devices and services. NB-IoT, rather than operating in theLTE construct, instead may work independently, in unused 200-kHz bandsused for GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), and/or on LTEbase stations allocating a resource block to NB-IoT operations. Comparedto LTE-M1, NB-IoT has lower bitrates and better link budgets. Amongother advantages, NB-IoT technologies allow for significantly reducedpower consumption among IoT devices, improved system capacity, andspectrum efficiency. For example, using NB-IoT, the battery life for IoTdevices may exceed 10 years for a wide range of use cases.

For these and other reasons, it is projected that many millions or evenbillions of IoT devices may be purchased and activated on NB-IoTnetworks in the coming years. However, conventional techniques ofregistering and activating such devices are often time-consuming,error-prone, and costly. To install new IoT devices, users are oftenrequired to navigate the processes of device registration, networkidentification and connection, device configuration, association of thedevice with one or more persons or accounts, and association of thedevice with payment account information to be used for any IoT deviceactivities that require payment. These processes may be inefficient,error-prone, and time-consuming for both users and IoT networkproviders.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, aspects described herein provide techniques forautonomously activating and deactivating IoT devices within NB-IoTnetworks. Embodiments described herein include autonomously registeringand/or activating IoT devices, provisioning network access, andconnecting the IoT device to an NB-IoT network with an agreed-tocontract for network usage. In various examples, IoT devices may beconfigured to negotiate for NB-IoT network access by (i) sharing theirdata with the NB-IoT network provider, (ii) security storing and usingcryptocurrency to obtain NB-IoT network access, and/or (iii)automatically providing the NB-IoT network provider with access to datafrom other associated IoT devices and/or with payment from a separatepayment provider. Individual IoT devices may be preconfigured withnegotiation terms for NB-IoT network access, pre-associated with otherdevices/users, and/or pre-loaded with cryptocurrency in a securestorage. Thus, the IoT devices may be autonomously registered andactivated NB-IoT network using smart contracts and/or block chain,quickly and partially or entirely transparently to the device user andowner.

According to additional aspects described herein, after an IoT devicehas been provisioned for the NB-IoT network, compliance with theagreed-to terms (e.g., access to data, cryptocurrency exchanges, etc.)may be monitored by the NB-IoT network provider. If the IoT device failsout of compliance with the terms, the IoT device may be automaticallydeactivated from the NB-IoT network. Additionally, the costs of varioustypes of sensor data collected by IoT devices, as well as network accesscosts, may change frequently based on a number of factors. Therefore,both the IoT device and/or the NB-IoT network provider may attempt torenegotiate sensor data access and/or network access on-the-fly. In someexamples, IoT devices might agree to trade only certain subsets of theirsensor data in exchange for NB-IoT network access. Further, depending onthe value of device's data, the NB-IoT network provider may agree toprovide network access and also to pay the IoT device (e.g., incryptocurrency) for its sensor data. For IoT devices associated withother devices, users/accounts, and/or third-party payers, thenegotiation and terms of the initial IoT network provisioning, as wellas any changes in terms or on-the-fly renegotiations, may includegranting/denying access to the sensor data from the other associateddevices, obtaining authorizing from the associated users/accounts,and/or obtaining/denying funding from the third-party payers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is described in conjunction with the appendedfigures:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a computing environment supportInternet-of-Things (IoT) and/or other devices, in accordance with one ormore embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 a block diagram illustrating an example Internet-of-Things (IoT)system, in which a number of IoT devices are configured to communicateover one or more IoT networks, in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the disclosure

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a video resource delivery andhome automation/monitoring system, in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a home automation system, inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the components of an IoT device,in accordance with one or more embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process of selectingand providing an IoT device configured to support autonomous activationwithin a network, in accordance with one or more embodiments of thedisclosure.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process of autonomouslyactivating an IoT device and provisioning the IoT device to a network,in accordance with one or more embodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process of monitoringan active IoT device on a network, in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example computing system uponwhich various features of the present disclosure may be implemented.

In the appended figures, similar components and/or features may have thesame numerical reference label. Further, various components of the sametype may be distinguished by following the reference label by a letterthat distinguishes among the similar components and/or features. If onlythe first numerical reference label is used in the specification, thedescription is applicable to any one of the similar components and/orfeatures having the same first numerical reference label irrespective ofthe letter suffix.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, specificdetails are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding ofvarious implementations and examples. It will be apparent, however, thatvarious implementations may be practiced without these specific details.For example, circuits, systems, algorithms, structures, techniques,networks, processes, and other components may be shown as components inblock diagram form in order not to obscure the implementations inunnecessary detail. The figures and description are not intended to berestrictive.

Some examples, such as those disclosed with respect to the figures inthis disclosure, may be described as a process which is depicted as aflowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, a structure diagram, asequence diagram, or a block diagram. Although a sequence diagram or aflowchart may describe the operations as a sequential process, many ofthe operations may be performed in parallel or concurrently. Inaddition, the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A process isterminated when its operations are completed, but could have additionalsteps not included in a figure. A process may correspond to a method, afunction, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a processcorresponds to a function, its termination may correspond to a return ofthe function to the calling function or the main function.

The processes depicted herein, such as those described with reference tothe figures in this disclosure, may be implemented in software (e.g.,code, instructions, program) executed by one or more processing units(e.g., processors cores), hardware, or combinations thereof. Thesoftware may be stored in a memory (e.g., on a memory device, on anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium). In some examples, theprocesses depicted in sequence diagrams and flowcharts herein can beimplemented by any of the systems disclosed herein. The particularseries of processing steps in this disclosure are not intended to belimiting. Other sequences of steps may also be performed according toalternative examples. For example, alternative examples of the presentdisclosure may perform the steps outlined above in a different order.Moreover, the individual steps illustrated in the figures may includemultiple sub-steps that may be performed in various sequences asappropriate to the individual step. Furthermore, additional steps may beadded or removed depending on the particular applications. One ofordinary skill in the art would recognize many variations,modifications, and alternatives.

In some examples, each process in the figures of this disclosure can beperformed by one or more processing units. A processing unit may includeone or more processors, including single core or multicore processors,one or more cores of processors, or combinations thereof. In someexamples, a processing unit can include one or more special purposeco-processors such as graphics processors, Digital Signal Processors(DSPs), or the like. In some examples, some or all of the processingunits can be implemented using customized circuits, such as ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), or Field programmable gate arrays(FPGAs).

Various techniques (e.g., systems, methods, computer-program productstangibly embodied in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium,etc.) are described herein for autonomously activating and deactivatingIoT devices within NB-IoT networks. Embodiments described herein includeautonomously registering and/or activating IoT devices, provisioningnetwork access, and connecting the IoT device to an NB-IoT network withan agreed-to contract for network usage. In various examples, IoTdevices may be configured to negotiate for NB-IoT network access by (i)sharing their data with the NB-IoT network provider, (ii) securitystoring and using cryptocurrency to obtain NB-IoT network access, and/or(iii) automatically providing the NB-IoT network provider with access todata from other associated IoT devices and/or with payment from aseparate payment provider. Individual IoT devices may be preconfiguredwith negotiation terms for NB-IoT network access, pre-associated withother devices/users, and/or pre-loaded with cryptocurrency in a securestorage. Thus, the IoT devices may be autonomously registered andactivated NB-IoT network using smart contracts and/or block chain,quickly and partially or entirely transparently to the device user andowner.

Additional aspects described herein relate to monitoring compliance ofthe agreed-to terms for NB-IoT network access (e.g., access to sensordata, transfers of cryptocurrency, etc.) between the IoT device and theNB-IoT network provider, after an IoT device has initially beenprovisioned for the NB-IoT network. If the IoT device fails out ofcompliance with the terms, the IoT device may be automaticallydeactivated from the NB-IoT network. Additionally, the costs of varioustypes of sensor data collected by IoT devices, as well as network accesscosts, may change frequently based on a number of factors. Therefore,both the IoT device and/or the NB-IoT network provider may attempt torenegotiate sensor data access and/or NB-IoT network access on-the-fly.In some examples, IoT devices might agree to trade only certain subsetsof their sensor data in exchange for NB-IoT network access. Further,depending on the value of device's data, the NB-IoT network provider mayagree to provide network access and also to pay the IoT device (e.g., incryptocurrency) for its sensor data. For IoT devices associated withother devices, users/accounts, and/or third-party payers, thenegotiation and terms of the initial IoT network provisioning, as wellas any changes in terms or on-the-fly renegotiations, may includegranting/denying access to the sensor data from the other associateddevices, obtaining authorizing from the associated users/accounts,and/or obtaining/denying funding from the third-party payers.

The various embodiments described herein may be implemented on andwithin one or more different networks and systems, including satelliteor terrestrial (e.g. cable) television distribution systems,telecommunications network systems, television distribution computernetworks such as the Internet, cellular and other mobile networkingsystems, and the like. Therefore, although certain examples below aredescribed in terms of specific types of user equipment (e.g., set-topboxes and other television receivers having digital video recorders,etc.) within specific systems (e.g., satellite television distributionsystems), it should be understood that similar or identical embodimentsmay be implemented using other network systems and architectures (e.g.,cable television networks, on-demand distribution networks, Internettelevision computer networks), as well as other user equipment anddevices (e.g., personal computers, servers, routers, gaming consoles,smartphones, etc.).

Referring now to FIG. 1, an example computing environment 100 isillustrated, including a number of IoT devices 110 operating through anarrowband IoT network 115, a number of additional devices/networks 120operating through one or more additional networks 125, although withbackend IoT application servers 135 and a backend IoT deviceactivation/management server 140. Various aspects and embodiments of thepresent disclosure may be implemented within a similar computingenvironment 100, in which an IoT device activation/management server 140may communicate with IoT devices 100 to negotiate and provision NB-IoTnetwork access, register and activate/deactivate the devices 100, andcommunicate as needed with networks of associated devices 120.

IoT devices 110 may include any physical object having Internetconnectivity. Thus, the numbers and types of IoT devices 110 in anyparticular implementation may be limitless. Generally, IoT devices 110may be configured for NB-IoT and/or Long Term Evolution (LTE) radioaccess. Additionally, for IoT devices 110 communicating via an NB-IoTnetwork 115, there may be additionally technical advantages/efficienciesrealized for those IoT devices 110 which are inexpensive, require longtransmission ranges, have a small power budget, and do not transmitlarge amounts of data. Thus, potential examples of IoT devices 110 mayinclude security systems, intruder and fire alarm systems, utilitymeters (e.g., for gas, water, electrical, etc.), weather sensors,facility management services, vehicle-based systems, personalappliances/health monitoring devices, industrial appliances and systems(e.g., PLC devices), personal electronic appliances, person or animaltracking devices, lighting systems or speaking systems in public orcommercial environments, or governmental infrastructure devices (e.g.,street lamps, traffic lights, trash bins, etc.). As discussed below inmore detail in reference to FIG. 5, the design and features of differentIoT devices 110 may vary widely. However, most or all IoT devices mayhave at least sensors for detecting/collecting data, processing unitsand memory, input devices, and/or wireless communication interfaces forcommunicating through one or more networks with a backend IoTapplication server 135.

In some implementations, IoT devices 110 may have circuitry andprocessing resources capable of obtaining location related measurements(also referred to as location measurements), such as measurements forsignals received from GPS or other Satellite Positioning System (SPS)space vehicles (SVs), measurements for cellular transceivers such aseNBs, and/or measurements for local transceivers. IoT devices 110 mayfurther have circuitry and processing resources capable of computing itsposition fix or estimated location based on these location relatedmeasurements. In some implementations, location related measurementsobtained by an IoT device 110 may be transferred to an IoT applicationserver 135, which may estimate or determine a location for the IoTdevice 110 based on the measurements.

The NB-IoT network 115 may include one or more cellular or computernetwork infrastructures configured to a support a narrowband IoT(NB-IoT) standard (also referred to as LTE Cat-NB1). NB-IoT is a RadioAccess Type (RAT), supported by the evolved Universal MobileTelecommunications Service (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network(E-UTRAN), that was added by 3GPP in specifications for 3GPP Release 13to provide 200 KHz UL/DL (Uplink/Downlink) carrier bandwidth (and 180KHz UL/DL usable bandwidth). The CIoT concerns EPC (evolved packet core)support for NB-IoT, IoT and MTC and is complimentary to NB-IoT (e.g.,NB-IoT is concerned with E-UTRAN and CIoT is concerned with the EPC).

As noted above, an NB-IoT network 115 may exist in independentlylicensed bands, in unused 200 kHz bands that have previously been usedfor GSM or CDMA, or on LTE base stations that may allocate a resourceblock to NB-IoT operations or in their guard bands. Although severalexamples herein refer to NB-IoT network(s) 115, it should be understoodthat in other embodiments, Long Term Evolution (LTE) or other similar orequivalent network standards may be used. For example, an LTE Cat-M1(also referred to as LTE-M) network 115 may be used in certainembodiments. The LTE-M and NB-IoT standards have many similarities,although while an LTE-M network may be deployed within a currentcellular network, an NB-IoT network by contrast does not operate in theLTE construct.

In some embodiments, NB-IoT network 115 may include one or more of anE-UTRAN and an EPC, which may be part of a Visited Public Land MobileNetwork (VPLMN) that is a serving network for one or more IoT devices110, and which may communicates with a Home Public Land Mobile Network(HPLMN) for the IoT device 110. A VPLMN E-UTRAN, VPLMN EPC and/or HPLMNmay interconnect with other networks. For example, the Internet may beused to carry messages to and from different networks such as the HPLMNand the VPLMN EPC. For simplicity these networks and associated entitiesand interfaces are not shown. As shown, the network architecture 100 mayprovide packet-switched services to the IoT devices 110. However, asthose skilled in the art will readily appreciate, the various conceptspresented throughout this disclosure may be extended to networksproviding circuit-switched services.

Examples of network technologies that may support wireless communicationinclude NB-IoT 115, but may further include GSM, CDMA, WCDMA, LTE, NR,HRPD and eMTC radio types. NB-IoT, CIoT, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, eMTC and NRare technologies defined by (or expected to be defined by) 3GPP. CDMAand HRPD are technologies defined by the 3rd Generation PartnershipProject 2 (3GPP2). WCDMA is also part of UMTS and may be supported by anHNB. Cellular transceivers, such as eNBs, may comprise deployments ofequipment providing subscriber access to a wireless telecommunicationnetwork for a service (e.g., under a service contract). Here, a cellulartransceiver may perform functions of a cellular base station inservicing subscriber devices within a cell determined based, at least inpart, on a range at which the cellular transceiver is capable ofproviding access service.

In this example, the NB-IoT network 115 may connect to a core network130, on which various IoT applications server 135 and the IoT deviceactivation and management server 140 reside. Core network 130 may be anIP-based Internet backbone configured to interconnect several differentNB-IoT networks 115, LANs or subnetworks, and/or other access networks125. In this example, access networks 125 may include Ethernets 120,wired or wireless LANs 120, fiber optic networks 120, cable networks120, satellite networks 120, cellular networks 120, etc. Examples ofseveral access networks are described below in more detail in referenceto FIG. 3. As discussed below, the electronic devices 120 accessible viaaccess networks 125 may be related to certain IoT devices 110, and maybe associated with the same owner, subscription/account, physicallocation or organization. Thus, although a first IoT device 110 and asecond appliance or user device 120 may be of different device types,installed at different locations, and communicate with backend serversover different networks, if the devices are commonly owned or otherwiserelated, the IoT device activation and management server 140 mayaccess/communicate with the associated user device 120 in order toprovide network access to the IoT device 110. Additionally, although theIoT device activation and management server 140, and related database145, are shown in this example as being accessible through the corenetwork 130, in other embodiments some or all of the IoT deviceactivation and management server 140 and/or database 145 may beimplemented within the NB-IoT network 115.

Referring now to FIG. 2, an example IoT system 200 is shown, in which anumber of IoT devices 220 are configured to communicate over one or moreIoT networks 210. Thus, IoT system 200 may correspond to the IoT devices110 and NB-IoT network 115 described above. As noted above, IoT system200 may consist of an NB-IoT network, LTE network, and/or any of theother IoT compatible networks discussed herein. Additionally, althoughonly twenty different IoT devices 221-240 (which may be referred toindividually or collectively as IoT device(s) 220), and three separateIoT communication networks 210 a, 210 b, and 210 c (which may bereferred to individually or collectively as IoT network(s) 210 or IoTinterface (s) 210) are shown in this example, it should be understoodthat this architecture is illustrative only, and any number IoT devices220 may communicate via any number of different IoT networks 210 inother embodiments.

As noted above, IoT devices 220 may include various NB-IoT devices whichare optimized and configured for NB-IoT network standards. Each IoTdevice 220 may include specialized sensors and inputs configured for itsspecific purpose(s), and be configured to transmit data infrequently,over long transmission ranges, and to require a very small power budget.In this example, IoT devices 220 may include wireless electronic devicessuch as security systems, intruder and fire alarm systems, utilitymeters (e.g., for gas, water, electrical, etc.), weather sensors,facility management services, vehicle-based systems, personalappliances/health monitoring devices, industrial appliances and systems(e.g., PLC devices), personal monitoring/home monitoring electronicappliances, person or animal tracking devices, lighting systems orspeaking systems in public or commercial environments, or governmentalinfrastructure devices (e.g., street lamps, traffic lights, trash bins,etc.).

IoT network(s) 210 may be built upon IP-based networks and/or cellular,cable, or satellite content provider networks. Some or all of the IoTdevice(s) 220 thus may be electronic devices operating at a residentiallocation, business location, school or governmental office, or otherinstallation network, and may communicate with a core network 130 andbackend servers 135-140 via local network equipment (e.g., a televisionreceiver, modem, router, etc.). In other examples, IoT devices 220 maybe installed at separate locations accessible via cellular basednetworks such as NB-IoT or LTE, and/or combinations of multiple networktypes (e.g., including the Internet and one or more cellular/wirelessdata networks). Thus, IoT devices 220 may be widely distributed,operating separately and independently from other IoT devices 220 or IoTnetworks, both with respect to geography and with respect to thecomputing environments, networks, and protocols used to access thedevices.

In some embodiments, IoT network(s) 210 may correspond to peer-to-peer(P2P) networks formed among the various IoT devices 220. Such networksmay be wired or wireless, and may use any combination of known networkprotocols and technologies, including IP-based networks (e.g., WiFi,IEEE 802.11), RF networks, Bluetooth networks, cellular networks,NFC-based communications, etc. In some examples, IoT network(s) 210 maybe based on short-range wireless technologies, and thus IoT devices 220may discover and communicate with other IoT devices 220 that are withinclose proximity of each other. Of course, it should be understood thatlong-range embodiments are also possible, and thus IoT devices 220 indirect or indirect communication might be located in different cities ordifferent countries.

In this example, IoT devices 221-225 may correspond to multi-purposeand/or general purpose computing devices, including personal computer221, vehicle-based computer system (e.g., vehicle-based automation andassistant device) 222, smartphone 223, tablet computer 224, and laptop225. Such multi-purpose and/or general purpose devices 221-225 may beequipped with user input components (e.g., keyboard, mouse, microphone,touchscreen, etc.) and corresponding software to receive and process avariety of requests from users. Additionally, IoT device 221-225 alsomay have IP-based network interfaces and the capability to connect tothe Internet through one or more wide area network connections (e.g.,cellular, WiFi, etc.). Therefore, such multi-purpose and/or generalpurpose devices 221-225 may correspond to IoT controller devices in manyexamples discussed herein. In contrast, IoT devices 226-240 in thisexample may correspond to various appliances, sensors, and/or simplersingle-purpose electronic devices. Devices 226-240 also may or may nothave Internet connectivity, and also may or may have general user inputcomponents. Accordingly, such devices 226-240 may correspond to IoTthing devices in many examples discussed herein. In some cases, IoTthing devices may be passive devices, such as simple electronic deviceshaving RFID tags, NFC tags, simple RF or infrared functionality, etc.,which are capable of storing and transmitting device information overshort ranges but could not act as IoT controller devices. However, evenappliances, sensor devices, and other simple single-purpose devices mayact as IoT controller devices in some cases, while general purposedevices such as personal computers 221, vehicle-based systems 222,smartphones 223, tablets 224, etc., may act as IoT thing devices.

Different examples of the interactions between IoT controller devicesand IoT thing devices are described in more detail below. In someexamples, IoT controller devices may receive and process user requeststo perform tasks that will require interactions with one or moredifferent IoT devices (e.g., IoT thing devices), and thus IoT controllerdevices may perform the processes of discovering accessible IoT thingdevices, determining the purpose, status, and functions capable of beingperformed via the accessible IoT thing devices, and then invoking theappropriate functions on selected IoT thing devices to perform the tasksrequested by the user. Thus, IoT controller devices may take the activerole in discovering available (e.g., nearby) IoT thing devices, learningtheir capabilities, and instructing them to perform a desired set offunctions, while IoT thing devices may take a more passive role ofreceiving and responding to requests from IoT controller devices.

However, in some cases, IoT thing devices also may take active rolesduring IoT device interactions, and perform the functions of IoTcontroller devices. For example, during a device discovery process, anIoT controller device 223 may broadcast a query to all accessible IoTthings devices, seeking an available printer. Although none of the IoTthings devices accessible to the IoT controller 223 is a printer, eachIoT thing device may be able to connect to a broader network ofadditional IoT thing devices that are not directly accessible to the IoTcontroller 223. In this example, a monitor 229 IoT thing device mayperform its own device discovery process to locate a printer IoT device238, and may relay information about the printer device 238 (e.g., adevice ID, description, status, location, etc.) to the IoT controller223.

As another example, an IoT controller device (e.g., vehicle-based system222) may receive a request from a user to open the front door of theuser's house. Through device discovery and inquiry, the IoT controller222 may identify door 228 as the correct IoT thing device, and maytransmit an open request to the door IoT thing device 228. In response,the door IoT device 228 may, based on its own internal programming,decide to turn on one or more lights and/or begin playing music inresponse to the door being opened. Thus, the door IoT thing device 228may take the role of an IoT controller by discovering and theninstructing one or more light IoT thing devices 236 and/or speaker IoTthing devices 236 to perform the desired functions.

Thus, the IoT devices 220 more commonly used in NB-IoT implementations,such as security systems, alarm systems, utility meters, weathersensors, facility management services, vehicle-based systems, personalappliances/health monitoring devices, industrial appliances and systems,personal electronic appliances, person or animal tracking devices,lighting systems or speaking systems in public or commercialenvironments, or governmental infrastructure devices (e.g., streetlamps, traffic lights, trash bins, etc.), may be configured toindividually collect their respective sensor data, and to individuallycommunicate with backend servers 135-140 via the NB-IoT 115 and corenetwork 130. However, in other cases, these IoT devices 220 may work incollaboration (e.g., IoT thing/IoT controller relationships) and/or maydiscover and use combinations of device capabilities and networktransmission techniques of nearby devices 220 to perform various datacollecting and transmitting functionality.

Referring now to FIG. 3, an example home monitoring system 300 is shown,including one or more IoT devices 220 and/or other home automation andmonitoring devices or systems 190, configured to operate at aresidential location or other installation location (e.g., business,school, governmental building, etc.). Thus, home monitoring system 300may correspond to a residential/school/business network and devices 120,and access network 125, as described above in reference to FIG. 1. Asnoted above, aspects described herein relate to autonomous activationand management of IoT devices 110. However, techniques for activating,registering, and managing IoT devices 110 via NB-IoT networks 115 may besimilarly used for activating, registering, and managing IoT devices 120or other home automation/monitoring devices 190 over non-NB-IoT accessnetworks 125 and other network infrastructures. Further, as noted above,activation and management of IoT devices 110 over NB-IoT networks 115may include communication with separate commonly-owned or associateddevices over different networks. Therefore, this example illustrates ahome monitoring system 300 that may be implemented at a residentiallocation, business location, school or governmental location, etc.,using one or more access networks 125 to communicate with the samebackend IoT application servers 135 and/or IoT activation/managementservers 140. It should also be understood that this architecture isillustrative only, and different types of network nodes 140 (e.g.,television receivers, set-top boxes, modems, routers, laptops, tablets,etc.), any number/type of IoT devices 220, home automation devices 390,and/or networks 115-117 may be implemented in other embodiments.

In the example shown in FIG. 3, the television receiver 340 may collectdata from IoT devices 220 and/or other home monitoring devices 390,analyze and transmit the sensor data to back-end services providers 310,320, 330 (e.g., IoT application servers 135 and/or activation managementserver 140), which may use the data received from the receiver 340(which may be modem, router, or other network device) to negotiateNB-IoT network access for IoT devices and to provision those deviceswith network access. In some cases, the data transmitted from thereceiver 340 to the one or more content providers 310-330 via the IPnetwork 315 may be secure and/or confidential, and thus may use securedata transmission protocols and/or encryption to protect the userrequests, transmissions of user monitoring data, location monitoringdata, user tracking data, etc. Additionally, in some embodiments, datafrom certain devices (e.g., 390) may be transmitted via a first network(e.g., IP network 315) while the data from other devices (e.g., 220) maybe transmitted via different networks (e.g., television networks316-317).

In order to perform these features and the additional functionalitydescribed below, each of the components and sub-components shown inexample system 300, such as television receiver 340, the servers andsystems within the satellite, cable, and computer network-basedtelevision providers 310-330, presentation device 350, mobile device360, remote control 370, IoT devices 380, and home automationdevices/systems 390, etc., may correspond to a single computing deviceor server, or to a complex computing system including a combination ofcomputing devices, storage devices, network components, etc. Each ofthese components and their respective subcomponents may be implementedin hardware, software, or a combination thereof. The components shown insystem 300 may communicate via communication networks 315-317 (as wellas other communication networks not shown in this figure), eitherdirectly or indirectly by way of various intermediary networkcomponents, such as satellite system components, telecommunication orcable network components, routers, gateways, firewalls, and the like.Although these physical network components have not been shown in thisfigure so as not to obscure the other elements depicted, it should beunderstood that any of the network hardware components and networkarchitecture designs may be implemented in various embodiments tosupport communication between the television receiver 340,television/video service providers 310-330, and other components withinsystem 300.

The television (and/or video) receiver 340 may be implemented usingvarious specialized user equipment devices, such as cable system set-topboxes, satellite system set-top boxes, WiFi or Internet-based set-topboxes, gaming consoles, and the like. In other examples, the receiver340 may be implemented using (or integrated into) other computingdevices such as personal computers, network routers, tablet computers,mobile devices, etc. Thus, the receiver 340 may be implemented as asingle computing device or a computing system including a combination ofmultiple computing devices, storage devices, network components, etc. Insome examples, a television receiver 340 may correspond to a primarytelevision receiver (PTR) which may include one or more networkinterface components (NICs) 341, an electronic programming guide (EPG)user interface component 342, a digital video recorder (DVR) 343, and/ora plurality of tuners 344, and related hardware/software components(e.g., audio/video decoders, descramblers, demultiplexers, etc.). Insome cases, television receivers 340 may include one or more internaldata stores and/or external data stores (e.g., external storage systems,database servers, file-based storage, cloud storage systems, etc.)configured to store television programs (e.g., audio/video filescorresponding to television shows or movies, sporting events, livebroadcasts, etc.), as well as image data and music/audio content thatmay be stored on television receivers 340 and output via presentationdevices 350 and/or mobile devices 360. In some embodiments, such datastores may reside in a back-end server farm, storage cluster, and/orstorage-area network (SAN). As shown in this example, an IoT deviceactivation engine 345 also may be implemented within the televisionreceiver 340 to perform various functionality relating to configuringand activating IoT devices 110 and 220, both remote and local, as wellas other electronic devices 390, including transmitting monitoring datato back-end systems 310-330, and/or performing specific functionalitybased on certain monitoring data, as described in more detail below.

As shown in this example, television receiver 340 may be configured tocommunicate with television and/or video service providers 310-330 overmultiple communication networks 315-317. As shown in this example,receiver 340 may receive television and/or video content from multipletelevision providers simultaneously, including a satellite televisionservice provider 310, a cable television service provider 320, and oneor more computer-network based television providers. Although threeexample providers 310-330 are shown in FIG. 3, it should be understoodthat any number of different television providers may be used in otherembodiments, including embodiments in which a receiver 340 is only incommunication with one or two of the providers 310-330, and embodimentsin which the receiver 340 is in communication with additional satelliteand cable television service provider, on-demand television providers,pay-per-view (PPV) television providers, Internet-based televisionproviders, television streaming services, etc. Additionally, althoughvarious components within the television receiver 340 and televisionservice providers 310-330 are illustrated as standalone computer systemsin this example, any or all of these components may be implementedwithin and/or integrated into one or more servers or devices of variouscontent distribution systems and other computing architectures. Forexample, as discussed below, the IoT device activation/management engine345 may be implemented solely within a television receiver 340, modem,router, or user computing device (e.g., as a smartphone application), ormay be implemented within a combination of devices within atelevision/video distribution system, or other location monitoringsystems. For example, the IoT device activation/management engine 345may be implemented within one or more back-end servers 311, 321, and330, or as a standalone component and/or in a distributed manner, withinother types of content distribution systems, such as terrestrial (e.g.,cable) television distribution systems, telecommunications networksystems, LAN or WAN computer networks (e.g., the Internet), cellular andother mobile networking systems, and any other computing environment. Inany of these examples, the IoT device activation/management engine 345may be implemented within (or integrated into) television receivers 340as shown in FIG. 3, and/or within one or more content servers (e.g.,satellite hubs, cable headends, Internet servers, etc.), one or morelocal computing devices (e.g., televisions, television receivers,set-top boxes, gaming consoles, standalone home monitoring stations,network routers, modems, personal computers, and the etc.), or acombination of server-side devices/services and local devices/services.

Television/video content received and/or decoded by television receiver340 may be presented via one or more presentation devices 350.Presentation devices 350 may correspond to televisions and othertelevision viewing devices (e.g., home computers, tablet computers,smartphones, etc.). Additionally, various systems 300 may incorporateother user equipment and devices, such as mobile devices 360 and remotecontrol devices 370 configured to communicate with associated televisionreceivers 340 and/or presentation devices 350. User devices 360 mayinclude mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers, as wellas other various types of user computing devices (e.g., personalcomputers, laptops, home monitoring/security display devices, weatherstation displays, digital picture frames, smart watches, wearablecomputing devices, and/or vehicle-based display devices). In someembodiments, user devices 360 may be associated with specific televisionreceivers 340 and/or specific users/customer accounts associated withthe receiver 340 and/or system 300. As shown in FIG. 3, user devices 360may be configured to receive data from and transmit data to anassociated television receiver 340. Additionally or alternatively, userdevices 360 may be configured to communicate directly with one or moretelevision service providers 310-330, so that certain transmissions ofvideo content and other functionality (e.g., collecting and transmittingsensor data from IoT devices 220 and/or home automation and monitoringdevices 390, etc.) may potentially bypass the television receiver 340 insome embodiments.

Different presentation devices 350, user devices 360, and remote controldevices 370 may include hardware and software components to support aspecific set of output capabilities (e.g., LCD display screencharacteristics, screen size, color display, video driver, speakers,audio driver, graphics processor and drivers, etc.), and a specific setof input capabilities (e.g., keyboard, mouse, touchscreen, voicecontrol, cameras, facial recognition, gesture recognition, etc.).Different such devices 350-370 may support different input and outputcapabilities, and thus different types of user notifications and userinputs in response to notifications (e.g., sensor detection from IoTdevices 220 and HAS devices 390) may be compatible or incompatible withcertain devices 350-370. For example, certain notifications generatedand output by a television receiver 340, or television/video serviceproviders 310-330, may require specific types of processors, graphicscomponents, and network components in order to be displayed (ordisplayed optimally) on a user device 360. Additionally, different typesof user notifications may include different interactive user responsefeatures that require various specific input capabilities forpresentation devices 350, user devices 360, and remote control devices370, such as keyboards, mouses, touchscreens, voice controlcapabilities, gesture recognition, and the like. In some embodiments,the content of user notifications and/or the user response componentsmay be customized based on the capabilities of the presentation device350 and/or user device 360 selected to output the notification.Additionally, in some cases, users may establish user-specificpreferences, which may be stored in the memory of the televisionreceiver 340, for outputting specific types of user notifications tospecific types of presentation devices 350 and/or user devices 360.

System 300 also may include one or more IoT devices 220, and one or morehome monitoring (or personal monitoring) and automation devices orsystems 390. home automation devices 390 (discussed below in referenceto FIG. 4) and IoT devices 220 (discussed in more below in reference toFIG. 5) each may include a variety of devices configured to collect andanalyze various sensor data proximate to the location of the system 300,including location data (e.g., sights, sounds, smells, etc.), personaluser monitoring data and/or device operational status data, etc. Asdescribed below in more detail, the sensor data received and analyzed bysensors 220 and/or 390 may be used to identify and track particularindividuals and objects, as well as initiate communications, alerts,and/or other functionality via IoT devices 220 and home monitoringdevices 390.

Home monitoring and automation devices and systems 390 may includenetworks of one or more location-based sensors, device sensors, and/orappliance sensors configured to collect and analyze data relating to auser location, such as user's home, office, etc. An example of a homemonitoring and automation system 390, HAS 400, is described below inFIG. 4. Devices and systems 390 may include personal and/or wearablecomputing devices configured to detect current health and activity dataof a user near the system location 300. As discussed below, in someembodiments, a home monitoring and automation system 390 may be hostedby receiver 340, and may receive data from various sensors configured tomonitor the current home environment and the operation of various homedevices or appliances. The home monitoring and automation system 390 maycollect such user/location data and transmit the data to the receiver340 and/or other devices within the system 300. Personal and/or wearablecomputing devices 390 may be configured to detect current health andactivity data of a user. Such devices 390 may include various health andactivity sensors, heartrate and blood pressure sensors, sleep monitors,temperature monitors, user movement monitors, and personalexercise/fitness sensors that may detect and track the physical stateand condition of the user. In some examples, certain personal monitoringdevices may be insertable and/or embedded devices with sensors formonitoring various chemicals within the user's bloodstream, such ascontinuous glucose monitors, alcohol monitoring systems, and otherchemical monitoring systems. Personal monitoring devices 390, whetherembedded, insertable, wearable, or entirely external to the user (e.g.,external monitoring cameras, microphones, and other sensors), maycollect personal user biostatistics data and transmit the user data tothe receiver 340 and/or other devices within the system 300.

The television receivers 340, television service providers 310-330,presentation devices 350, user devices 360, IoT devices 220, and/orhome/personal automation and monitoring devices 290, each may includethe necessary hardware and software components to establish networkinterfaces and transmit/receive video signals or data streams, usermonitoring data and video output criteria, and/or user interfaces andnotifications, etc. Some or all of these devices may include securityfeatures and/or specialized hardware (e.g., hardware-accelerated SSL andHTTPS, WS-Security, firewalls, etc.) in order to present the variousconfidential data transmitted between components (e.g., user andreceiver identification data, user monitoring data, user video viewingdata, user criteria and access restriction data for certain videoresources, etc.), and to prevent hacking and other malicious accessattempts within the system 300. In some cases, the television receivers340 may communicate with television service providers 310-330, userdevices 360, and/or sensor-based monitoring devices 220, 390 usingsecure data transmission protocols and/or encryption for data transfers,for example, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Secure File Transfer Protocol(SFTP), and/or Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) encryption. Service-basedimplementations of the system 300 may use, for example, the SecureSockets Layer (SSL) or Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol toprovide secure connections between the television receivers 340, videocontent providers 310-330, user devices 360, and/or monitoring devices220, 390. SSL or TLS may use HTTP or HTTPS to provide authentication andconfidentiality.

As shown in this example, receiver 340 and providers 310-330, userdevices 360, and/or user and location monitoring device/systems 380-390may communicate over various different types of networks 315-317. Forexample, network 315 is an Internet Protocol (IP) network, which may usethe Internet networking model and/or communication protocols. IP network315 may include local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs)(e.g., the Internet), and/or various wireless telecommunicationsnetworks. For example, when an IoT device activation/management engine345 is implemented within a television receiver 340, wireless router,modem, or other local user equipment, then IP network 315 may includewireless local area networks (WLANs) or other short-range wirelesstechnologies such as Bluetooth®, mobile radio-frequency identification(M-RFID), and/or other such communication protocols. In other examples,when at least a portion or component of a user video output engine isimplemented remotely as a service in a backend server 311, 321, or 330,or other computer server, satellite hub, cable headend, etc., then IPnetwork 315 may include one or more WANs (e.g., the Internet), variouscellular and/or telecommunication networks (e.g., 3G, 4G or EDGE(enhanced data rates for global evolution), WiFi (IEEE 802.11 familystandards, or other mobile communication technologies), or anycombination thereof. Additionally, system 300 includes satellitenetworks 316 and cable data networks 317, which may be used in thisexample for respectively IoT device sensor data and IoT device networkaccess terms and negotiation data to television receiver 340 and otheruser equipment. However, it should be understood that IP network 315also may include various components of satellite communication networksand/or or terrestrial cable networks in some embodiments. Forcommunication between presentation device 150, user devices 360, remotecontrols 370, and monitoring devices 220, 390, and their associatedtelevision receivers 340, then communications may include use of a WLANand/or other short-range wireless technologies. However, forcommunication between television receivers 340 and remotely locatedmobile user devices 360 (and/or for user devices 360 that are configuredto communicate directly with television service providers 310-330), andremotely-based located monitoring devices/systems 220, 390, thencommunications may include WANs, satellite networks, terrestrial cablenetworks, and/or cellular or other mobile telecommunication networks,etc.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an example home automation system (HAS) 400 isshown in accordance with certain embodiments. As discussed above, homemonitoring and automation devices and systems 400 may be used separatelyfrom or in conjunction with one or more IoT devices 220. For example,home monitoring and automation devices and systems 400 may be used tomonitor the same or related users and locations as IoT devices 110/220,and the sensor data may be combined in order to more accurately andefficiently monitor particular locations. Additionally, as discussedbelow, sensor data from HAS devices/systems may be provided via an IoTdevice activation/management engine 345 to a backend server 140 as partof the terms and conditions for activating and providing NB-IoT networkaccess to a separate IoT device 110.

In this example, the home automation system 400 may be hosted by areceiver device 340 as shown in FIG. 3, and thus the receiver 340 may beconsidered a home automation gateway device or system. An overlay device428 is also shown in FIG. 4. In another example, the HAS 400 may behosted by the overlay device 428 of FIG. 4, and thus the overlay device428 may be considered a home automation gateway device or system. Stillother examples are possible. For instance, in some example, features orfunctionality of the overlay device 428 may be wholly or at leastpartially incorporated into the receiver device 340 (and vice versa), sothat the HAS 400 may be considered to be hosted or managed or controlledby both receiver 340 and the overlay device 428. In this manner, thereceiver 340, the overlay device 428, or any combination offunctionality thereof, may be considered the central feature or aspectof the example HAS 400. Additionally, in still other examples, the HAS400 might not be hosted by a receiver 340 or an overlay device, but maybe operated by a standalone device 390 that may communicate with one ormore receivers via an IP network 315 or other local communicationprotocols.

In this example, the receiver device 340 and/or the overlay device 428may be configured and/or arranged to communicate with multiple sensordevices, including at least the various in-home, personal/wearable, oron-residence home automation related systems and/or devices shown inFIG. 4. Some examples of sensor devices may include, but are not limitedto: at least one pet door/feeder 409, at least one smoke/CO₂ detector410, a home security system 411, at least one security camera 412, atleast one window sensor 413, at least one door sensor 414, at least oneweather sensor 415, at least one shade controller 416, at least oneutility monitor 418, at least one third party device 420, at least onehealth sensor 422, at least one communication device 424, at least oneintercom 426, at least one overlay device 428, at least one displaydevice 430, at least one cellular modem 432, at least one lightcontroller 434, at least one thermostat 436, and one or more appliancesensors/controllers (e.g., scale sensor 438, water dispenser controller440, refrigerator controller 442, a kitchen appliance controller 444,and an electronic medication dispenser 446). It should be understoodthat the HAS 400 depicted in FIG. 4 is just one example, and that otherexamples are possible as discussed further below.

In various embodiments, each of the elements of FIG. 4, with which thereceiver device 340 communicates, may use different communicationstandards. For example, one or more elements may use or otherwiseleverage a ZigBee® communication protocol, while one or more otherdevices may communicate with the receiver 340 using a Z-Wave®communication protocol. As another example, one or more elements may useor otherwise leverage a WiFi communication protocol, while one or moreother devices may communicate with the receiver 340 using a Bluetoothcommunication protocol. Any combination thereof is further contemplated,and other forms of wireless communication may be used by particularelements of FIG. 4 to enable communications to and from the receiver340, such as any particular IEEE (Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers) standard or specification or protocol, such asthe IEEE 802.11 technology for example.

In some examples, a separate device may be connected with the receiver340 to enable communication with the smart home automation systems ordevices of FIG. 4. For instance, the communication device 424 as showncoupled with the receiver device 340 may take the form of a dongle. Insome examples, the communication device 424 may be configured to allowfor Zigbee®, Z-Wave®, and/or other forms of wireless communication. Insome example, the communication device 424 may connect with the receiver340 via a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port or via some other type of(e.g., wired) communication port. Accordingly, the communication device424 may be powered by the receiver 340 or may be separately coupled withanother different particular power source. In some examples, thereceiver 340 may be enabled to communicate with a local wireless networkand may use communication device in order to communicate with devicesthat use a ZigBee® communication protocol, Z-Wave® communicationprotocol, and/or some other wireless communication protocols.

In some examples, the communication device 424 may also serve to allowor enable additional components to be connected with the receiver device340. For instance, the communication device 424 may include additionalaudio/video inputs (e.g., HDMI), component, and/or composite inputs toallow for additional devices (e.g., Blu-Ray players) to be connectedwith the receiver 340. Such a connection may allow video comprising homeautomation information to be “overlaid” with television programming,both being output for display by a particular presentation device.Whether home automation information is overlaid onto video on displaymay be triggered based on a press of a remote control button by anend-user.

Regardless of whether the receiver 340 uses the communication device 242to communicate with any particular home automation device shown in FIG.4 or other particular home automation device not explicitly shown inreceiver 340, the receiver 340 may be configured to output homeautomation information for presentation via the display device 430. Itis contemplated that the display device 430 could correspond to anyparticular one of the televisions and/or user devices describes above inFIGS. 1-3. Still other examples are possible. Such information may bepresented simultaneously, concurrently, in tandem, etc., with anyparticular television programming received by the receiver 340 via anyparticular communication channel as discussed above. It is furthercontemplated that the receiver 340 may also, at any particular instantor given time, output only television programming or only homeautomation information based on preferences or commands or selections ofparticular controls within an interface of or by any particularend-user. Furthermore, an end-user may be able to provide input to thereceiver 340 to control the HAS 400, in its entirety as hosted by thereceiver 340 or by the overlay device 428, as discussed further below.

In some examples (indicated by intermittent line in FIG. 4), the overlaydevice 428 may be coupled with the receiver 340 to allow or enable homeautomation information to be presented via the display device 430. It iscontemplated that the overlay device 428 may be configured and/orarranged to overlay information, such as home automation information,onto a signal that will ultimately enable the home automationinformation to be visually presented via the display device 430. In thisexample, the receiver 340 may receive, decode, descramble, decrypt,store, and/or output television programming. The receiver 340 may outputa signal, such as in the form of an HDMI signal. Rather than beingdirectly input to the display device 430, however, the output of thereceiver 340 may be input to the overlay device 428. Here, the overlaydevice 428 may receive video and/or audio output from the receiver 340.

The overlay device 428 may add additional information to the videoand/or audio signal received from the receiver 340 so as to modify oraugment or even “piggyback” on the same. That video and/or audio signalmay then be output by the overlay device 428 to the display device 430for presentation thereon. In some examples, the overlay device 428 mayinclude or exhibit an HDMI input/output, with the HDMI output beingconnected to the display device 430. While FIG. 4 shows linesillustrating communication between the receiver device 340 and othervarious devices, it will be appreciated that such communication mayexist, in addition or in alternate via the communication device 424and/or the overlay device 428. In other words, any particular input tothe receiver 340 as shown in FIG. 4 may additionally, or alternatively,be supplied as input to one or both of the communication device 424 andthe overlay device 428.

As alluded to above, the receiver 340 may be used to provide homeautomation functionality, but the overlay device 428 may be used tomodify a particular signal so that particular home automationinformation may be presented via the display device 430. Further, thehome automation functionality as detailed throughout in relation to thereceiver 340 may alternatively be provided by or via the overlay device428. Using the overlay device 428 to present automation information viathe display device 430 may be beneficial and/or advantageous in manyrespects. For instance, it is contemplated that multiple devices mayprovide input video to the overlay device 428. For instance, thereceiver 340 may provide television programming to the overlay device428, a DVD/Blu-Ray player may provide video to the overlay device 428,and a separate IPTV device may stream other programming to the overlaydevice 428.

Regardless of the source of particular video/audio, the overlay device428 may output video and/or audio that has been modified or augmented,etc., to include home automation information and then output to thedisplay device 430. As such, regardless of the source of video/audio,the overlay device 428 may modify the audio/video to include homeautomation information and, possibly, solicit user input. For instance,in some examples the overlay device 428 may have four video inputs(e.g., four HDMI inputs) and a single video output (e.g., an HDMIoutput). In other examples, the receiver 340 may exhibit such featuresor functionality. As such, a separate device, such as a Blu-ray playermay be connected with a video input of the receiver 340, thus allowingthe receiver 340 to overlay home automation information when contentfrom the Blu-Ray player is being output to the display device 430.

Regardless of whether the receiver 340 is itself configured to providehome automation functionality and output home automation input fordisplay via the display device 430 or such home automation functionalityis provided via the overlay device 428, home automation information maybe presented by the display device 430 while television programming isalso being presented by display device 430. For instance, homeautomation information may be overlaid or may replace a portion oftelevision programming, such as broadcast content, stored content,on-demand content, etc., presented via the display device 430. Forexample, while television programming is being presented, the displaymay be augmented with information related to home automation. Ingeneral, the television programming may represent broadcast programming,recorded content, on-demand content, or some other form of content.

An example of information related to home automation may include asecurity camera feed, as acquired by a camera at a front door of aresidence. Such augmentation of the television programming may beperformed directly by the receiver 340 (which may or may not be incommunication with the communication device 424), the overlay device428, or a combination thereof. Such augmentation may result in solid oropaque or partially transparent graphics being overlaid onto televisionprogramming (or other forms of video) output by the receiver 340 anddisplayed by the display device 430. Furthermore, the overlay device 428and/or the receiver 340 may add or modify sound to televisionprogramming also or alternatively. For instance, in response to adoorbell ring, a sound may be played through the television (orconnected audio system). In addition or in alternate, a graphic may bedisplayed. In other examples, other particular camera data (e.g., nannycamera data) and/or associated sound or motion sensors may be integratedin the system and overlaid or otherwise made available to a user. Forexample, detection of a crying baby from a nanny camera may trigger anon-screen alert to a user watching television.

Returning to FIG. 4 alone, the receiver 340 and/or the overlay device428, depending on implementation-specific details, may communicate withone or more wireless devices, such as the third party device 420. Thethird party devices 420 may correspond to one or more user devices 360discussed above, and represent a tablet computer, cellular phone, laptopcomputer, remote computer, or some other device through which a user maydesire to control home automation (device) settings and view homeautomation information in accordance with the principles of the presentdisclosure. Such a device also need not necessarily be wireless, such asin a traditional desktop computer embodiment. It is contemplated thatthe receiver 340, communication device 424, and/or the overlay device428 may communicate directly with the third party device 420, or may usea local wireless network, such as network 315-317 for instance. Thethird party device 420 may be remotely located and not connected with asame local wireless network as one or more of the other devices orelements of FIG. 4.

Various home automation devices may be in communication with an eventnotification module of the receiver 340 and/or the overlay device 428,depending on implementation-specific details. Such home automationdevices may use similar or dissimilar communication protocols. Such homeautomation devices may communicate with the receiver 340 directly or viathe communication device 424. Such home automation devices may becontrolled by a user and/or have a status viewed by a user via thedisplay device 430 and/or third party device 420. Examples of such homeautomation devices are described in the following sections. It should beunderstood that these examples are illustrative only and not limiting,and that other types of home automation devices may be used in otherexamples.

One or more cameras, such as the security camera 412 may be included inthe HAS 400. It is contemplated that the security camera 412 may beinstalled indoors, outdoors, and may provide a video and/or an audiostream that may be presented via the third party device 420 and/ordisplay device 430. Video and/or audio from the security camera 412 maybe recorded by the overlay device 428 and/or the receiver 340continuously, in a loop as per a predefined time period, upon an eventoccurring, such as motion being detected by the security camera 412, andetc. For example, video and/or audio from security camera 412 may becontinuously recorded such as in the form of a rolling window, thusallowing a period of time of video/audio to be reviewed by a user frombefore a triggering event and after the triggering event. Video/audiomay be recorded on a persistent storage device local to overlay device428 and/or the receiver 340, and/or may be recorded and stored on anexternal storage devices, such as a network attached storage device orback-end server memory. In some examples, video may be transmittedacross a local and/or wide area network to other one or more otherstorage devices upon occurrence of a trigger event, for later playback.For initial setup for example, a still may be captured by the securitycamera 412 and stored by the receiver 340 for subsequent presentation aspart of a user interface via the display device 430. In this way, anend-user can determine which camera, if multiple cameras are present orenabled, is being set up and/or later accessed. For example, a userinterface may display a still image from a front door camera, which maybe easily recognized by the user because it shows a scene near oradjacent a front door of a residence, to allow a user to select thefront door camera for viewing as desired.

Furthermore, video and, possibly, audio from the security camera 412 maybe available live for viewing by a user via the overlay device 428 orthe receiver 340. Such video may be presented simultaneously withtelevision programming being presented. In some examples, video may onlybe presented if motion is detected by the security camera 412, otherwisevideo from the security camera 412 may not be presented by a particulardisplay device presenting television programming. Also, such video (and,possibly, audio) from the security camera 408 may be recorded by thereceiver 340 and/or the overlay device 428. In some examples, such videomay be recorded based upon a user-configurable timer. For instance,features or functionality associated with the security camera 412 may beincorporated into an EPG that is output by the receiver 340 for displayby a presentation or display device.

For instance, data as captured by the security camera 412 may bepresented or may otherwise be accessible as a “channel” as part of theEPG along with other typical or conventional television programmingchannels. A user may be permitted to select that channel associated withthe security camera 408 to access data as captured by the securitycamera 412 for presentation via the display device 430 and/or the thirdparty device 420, etc. The user may also be permitted to set a timer toactivate the security camera 408 to record video and/or audio for auser-defined period of time on a user-defined date. Such recording maynot be constrained by the rolling window mentioned above associated witha triggering event being detected. Such an implementation may bebeneficial, for example, if a babysitter is going to be watching a childand the parents want to later review the babysitter's behavior in theirabsence. In some examples, video and/audio acquired by the securitycamera 412 may be backed up to a remote storage device, such ascloud-based storage hosted by an external server. Other data may also becached to the cloud, such as configuration settings. Thus, if one orboth of the receiver 340 and overlay device 428 malfunction, then a newdevice may be installed and the configuration data loaded onto thedevice from the cloud.

Further, one or more window sensors and door sensors, such as the windowsensor 413 and the door sensor 414 may be integrated in to or as part ofthe HAS 400, and each may transmit data to the receiver 340, possiblyvia the communication device 424, or the overlay device 428, thatindicates the status of a window or door, respectively. Such status mayindicate open window or door, an ajar window or door, a closed window ordoor, and etc. When a status change occurs, an end-user may be notifiedas such via the third party device 420 and/or the display device 430,within an EPG or like interface for example. Further, a user may be ableto view a status screen within an EPG or other interface to view thestatus one or more window sensors and/or one or more door sensorsthroughout the location. In some examples, the window sensor 413 and/orthe door sensor 414 may have integrated “break” sensors to enable adetermination as to whether glass or a hinge, or other integralcomponent, etc., has been broken or compromised. In certain embodiments,one or both of the window sensor 413 and the door sensor 414 may becontrolled via interaction with particular controls as provided withinor by an EPG or like interface, and information or data as acquired byone or both of the window sensor 413 and door sensor 414 may bemanipulated, consolidated, etc., as desired, and also made accessiblewithin or by an EPG or like interface, such as a pop-up window, banner,and/or other interface or display.

Further, one or more smoke and/or CO detectors, such as detector 410,may be integrated in to or as part of the HAS 400. As such, alerts as towhether a fire (e.g., heat, smoke), CO, radon, etc., has been detectedcan be sent to the receiver 340, third party device 420, etc., and/orone or more emergency first responders. Accordingly, when an alertoccurs, a user may be notified as such the via third party device 420 orthe display device 430, within an EPG or like interface for example.Further, it is contemplated that such an interface may be utilized todisable false alarms, and that one or more sensors dispersed throughouta residence and/or integrated within the HAS 400 to detect gas leaks,radon, or various other dangerous situations. In various embodiments, adetector 410 may be controlled via interaction with particular controlsas provided within or by an EPG or like interface, and information ordata as acquired by the detector 410 may be manipulated, consolidated,etc., as desired, and also made accessible within or by an EPG or otherinterface.

Further, a pet door and/or feeder, such as pet door and/or feeder 409may be integrated in to or as part of the HAS 400. For instance, apredefined amount of food may be dispensed at predefined times to a pet.A pet door may be locked and/or unlocked. The pet's weight or presencemay trigger the locking or unlocking of the pet door. For instance, acamera located at the pet door may be used to perform image recognitionof the pet or a weight sensor near the door may identify the presence ofthe pet and unlock the door. A user may also lock/unlock a pet doorand/or dispense food for example from a “remote” location. In variousembodiments, a pet door and/or feeder 409 may be controlled viainteraction with particular controls as provided within or by an EPG orother interface, and data received from the pet door and/or feeder 409may be consolidated, summarized, etc., and made accessible within or byan EPG or other interface.

Further, one or more weather sensors, such as the weather sensor 415 maybe integrated in to or as part of the HAS 400, and may allow or enablethe receiver 340 and/or overlay device 428 to receive, identify, and/oroutput various forms of environmental data, including local or non-localambient temperature, humidity, wind speed, barometric pressure, etc. Invarious embodiments, weather sensors 415 may be controlled viainteraction with particular controls as provided within or by an EPG orother interface, and information or data received from weather sensors415 may be manipulated, consolidated, etc., as desired, and also madeaccessible within or by an EPG or other.

Further, a shade controller, such as shade controller 416, may beintegrated in to or as part of the HAS 400, and may allow for control ofone or more shades, such as window, door, and/or skylight shades, withina home or residence or any other location. The shade controller 416 mayrespond to commands received from the receiver 340 and/or overlay device428 and may provide status updates, such as “shade up” or “shade 50% up”or “shade down” and etc. In various embodiments, shade controllers 416may be controlled via interaction with particular controls as providedwithin or by an EPG or other interfaces, and data received from shadecontrollers 416 may be manipulated, consolidated, etc., as desired, andalso made accessible within or by an EPG or other interface.

Further, one or more utility monitors, such as utility monitor 418, maybe integrated in to or as part of the HAS 400, and may serve to providethe receiver 340 and/or overlay device 428 with utility data orinformation, such as electricity usage, gas usage, water usage,wastewater usage, irrigation usage, etc. A user may via an EPG or likeinterface view a status page or may receive notifications uponpredefined events occurring, such as electricity usage exceeding adefined threshold within a month, or current kilowatt usage exceeding athreshold. In various embodiments, utility monitors 418 may becontrolled via interaction with particular controls as provided withinor by an EPG or other interface, and data received from utility monitors418 may be manipulated, consolidated, etc., as desired, and also madeaccessible within or by an EPG or other interface.

Further, one or more health sensors, such as health sensor 422, may beintegrated in to or as part of the HAS 400, and may permit one or morevital characteristics of a particular individual to be acquired and/ormonitored, such as a heart rate for instance. In some examples,additionally or alternatively, the health sensor 422 may contain abutton or other type of actuator that a user can press to requestassistance. As such, the health sensor 422 may be mounted to a fixedlocation, such as bedside, or may be carried by a user, such as on alanyard. Such a request may trigger a notification to be presented toother users via the display device 430 and/or the third party device420. Additionally or if the notification is not cleared by another userwithin a predefined period of time, a notification may be transmitted toemergency first responders to request help. In some examples, a homeautomation service provider may first try contacting the user, such asvia phone, to determine if an emergency is indeed occurring. Such ahealth sensor 422 may have additional purposes, such as for notificationof another form of emergency, such as a break-in, fire, flood, theft,disaster, etc.

In some examples, health sensor 422 may be used as a medical alertpendant that can be worn or otherwise carried by an individual. It maycontain a microphone and/or speaker to allow communication with otherusers and/or emergency first responders. The receiver 340 and/or overlaydevice 428 may be preprogrammed to contact a particular phone number,such as an emergency service provider, relative, medical professional,caregiver, etc., based on an actuator of the health sensor 422 beingactivated by a user. The user may be placed in contact with a person viathe phone number and the microphone and/or speaker of the health sensor422. Furthermore, camera data may be combined with such alerts in orderto give a contacted relative more information regarding the medicalsituation. For example, the health sensor 422, when activated in thefamily room, may generate a command which is linked with security camerafootage from the same room. Furthermore, in some examples, the healthsensor 422 may be able to monitor vitals of a user, such as a bloodpressure, temperature, heart rate, blood sugar, etc. In some examples,an event, such as a fall or exiting a structure can be detected.

Further, in response to an alert from the health sensor 422 or someother emergency or noteworthy event, parallel notifications may be sentto multiple users at approximately the same time. As such, multiplepeople can be made aware of the event at approximately the same time (asopposed to serial notification). Therefore, whoever the event is mostpertinent to or notices the notification first can respond. Which usersare notified for which type of event may be customized by a user of thereceiver 340. In addition to such parallel notifications being based ondata from the health sensor 422, data from other devices may triggersuch parallel notifications. For instance, a mailbox open, a garage dooropen, an entry/exit door open during wrong time, an unauthorized controlof specific lights during vacation period, a water sensor detecting aleak or flow, a temperature of room or equipment is outside of definedrange, and/or motion detected at front door are examples of possibleevents which may trigger parallel notifications.

Additionally, a configuring user may be able to select from a list ofusers to notify and method of notification to enable such parallelnotifications. The configuring user may prioritize which systems andpeople are notified, and specify that the notification may continuethrough the list unless acknowledged either electronically or by humaninteraction. For example, the user could specify that they want to benotified of any light switch operation in their home during theirvacation. Notification priority could be: 1) SMS Message; 2) pushnotification; 3) electronic voice recorder places call to primarynumber; and 4) electronic voice recorder places call to spouse's number.Other examples are possible, however, it is contemplated that the secondnotification may never happen if the user replies to the SMS messagewith an acknowledgment. Or, the second notification would automaticallyhappen if the SMS gateway cannot be contacted. In various embodiments,health sensors 422 may be controlled via interaction with particularcontrols as provided within or by an EPG or other interface, and datareceived from the health sensors 422 may be manipulated, consolidated,etc., as desired, and also made accessible within or by an EPG or otherinterfaces.

Further, an intercom, such as the intercom 426, may be integrated in toor as part of the HAS 400, and may permit a user in one location tocommunicate with a user in another location, who may be using the thirdparty device 420, the display device 430, or some other device, suchanother television receiver within the structure. The intercom 426 maybe integrated with the security camera 408 or may use a dedicatedmicrophone/speaker, such as a Bluetooth® microphone.Microphones/speakers of the third party device 420, display device 430,communication device, overlay device 428, etc., may also oralternatively be used. A MOCA network or other appropriate type ofnetwork may be used to provide audio and/or video from the intercom 426to the receiver 340 and/or to other television receivers and/or wirelessdevices in communication with the PTR 210. Here, as well as in otherinstances of home automation related data as acquired and served to thereceiver 340 and/or overlay device 428 by particular elements of FIG. 4,the intercom 426 may be controlled via interaction with particularcontrols as provided within or by an EPG or like interface, andinformation or data as acquired by the intercom 426 may be manipulated,consolidated, etc., as desired, and also made accessible within or by anEPG or like interface in accordance with the principles of the presentdisclosure.

Further, one or more light controllers, such as light controller 434,may be integrated in to or as part of the HAS 400, and may permit alight to be turned on, off, and/or dimmed by the receiver 340 or theoverlay device 428, such as based on a user command received from thethird party device 420 or directly via receiver 240 or overlay device428, etc. The light controller 434 may control a single light. As such,multiple different light controllers 434 may be present within a houseor residence. In some examples, a physical light switch, that opens andcloses a circuit of the light, may be left in the “on” position suchthat light controller 434 can be used to control whether the light is onor off. The light controller 434 may be integrated into a light bulb ora circuit, such as between the light fixture and the power source, tocontrol whether the light is on or off. An end-user, via the receiver340 or overlay device 428, may be permitted to view a status of eachinstance of the light controller 434 within a location.

Since the receiver 340 or overlay device 428 may communicate usingdifferent home automation protocols, different instances of the lightcontroller 434 within a location may use disparate or differentcommunication protocols, but may all still be controlled by the receiver340 or overlay device 428. In some examples, wireless light switches maybe used that communicate with the receiver 340 or overlay device 428.Such switches may use a different communication protocol than anyparticular instance of the light controller 434. Such a difference maynot affect functionality because the receiver 340 or overlay device 428may serve as a hub for multiple disparate communication protocols andperform any necessary translation and/or bridging functions. Forexample, a tablet computer may transmit a command over a WiFi connectionand the receiver 340 or overlay device 428 may translate the commandinto an appropriate Zigbee® or Zwave® command for a wireless light bulb.In some examples, the translation may occur for a group of disparate ordifferent devices. For example, a user may decide to turn off all lightsin a room and select a lighting command on a tablet computer, theoverlay device 428 may then identify the lights in the room and outputappropriate commands to all devices over different protocols, such as aZigbee® wireless light bulb and a Zwave® table lamp.

Additionally, it is contemplated that the PTR 140 may permit timersand/or dimmer settings to be set for lights via the light controller434. For instance, lights can be configured to turn on/off at varioustimes during a day according to a schedule and/or events being detectedby the HAS 400, etc. Here, as well as in other instances of homeautomation related data as acquired and served to the receiver 340and/or overlay device 428 by particular elements of FIG. 4, eachparticular instance of the light controller 434 may be controlled viainteraction with particular controls as provided within or by an EPG orlike interface, and information or data as acquired by each particularinstance of the light controller 434 may be manipulated, consolidated,etc., as desired, and also made accessible within or by an EPG or likeinterface in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.

Further, a thermostat, such as the thermostat 436, may be integrated into or as part of the HAS 400, and may provide heating/cooling updates tothe receiver 340 and/or overlay device 428 for display via displaydevice 430 and/or third party device 420. Further, control of thermostat436 may be effectuated via the receiver 340 or overlay device 428, andzone control within a structure using multiple thermostats may also bepossible. Here, as well as in other instances of home automation relateddata as acquired and served to the receiver 340 and/or overlay device428 by particular elements of FIG. 4, the thermostat 436 may becontrolled via interaction with particular controls as provided withinor by an EPG or like interface, and information or data as acquired bythe thermostat 436 may be manipulated, consolidated, etc., as desired,and also made accessible within or by an EPG or like interface inaccordance with the principles of the present disclosure.

Additional appliance sensors and/or appliance controllers 438-446 alsomay be integrated into or included as part of the HAS 400, in order toevaluate user readiness levels for completing physical conditioningvideos and/or to determine if user's have completed criteria forphysical conditioning videos. In various embodiments, appliancecontrollers 438-446 may permit the status of the correspondingappliances to be retrieved by the receiver 340 or overlay device 428, aswell as allowing commands to be sent by the receiver 240 or overlaydevice 428 to control operation of the appliances. Appliance controllers438-446 may be directly integrated as part of the correspondingappliance in some cases, or may use computer software and networks,wireless communications, and the like, to connect to the correspondingappliances. Additionally or alternatively, appliance sensors andcontroller 438-446 may be configured to determine appliance usage databy monitoring electricity usage of one or more associated appliance(e.g., other home automation devices or circuits within a home that aremonitored), or by implementing visual or audio monitoring of theappliance (e.g., using cameras 412 and microphones with video/audioanalyses to detect appliance usage).

As discussed above, both personal monitoring devices associated withusers, and HAS devices and systems may collect and analyze personal userdata and location data in order to determine current readiness levelsfor users to complete certain physical conditioning videos. In FIG. 4,appliance sensors and controllers 438-446 illustrate specific examplesof appliance sensors and controllers 438-446 in a HAS 400 that may beused to collect and analyze relevant data for determining a user'sreadiness for completing a physical conditioning video. For example, oneor more electronic scale sensors 438 may be configured to record userweight measurements and times, and to transmit that data to the receiver340 and/or overlay device 428. Additionally, one or more water dispensercontrollers 440, refrigerator appliance controllers 442, and/or otherkitchen appliance controllers 444 may be configured to determine auser's recent consumption of nourishment and nutrition, and this datamay be transmit to the receiver 340 and/or overlay device 428.Similarly, one or more electronic medication dispenser 446 may collectand analyze data relating to the user's use of medications and maytransmit this data to the receiver 340 and/or overlay device 428.Electronic medication dispensers 446 may include external appliancessuch as an electronic pill dispensers, insertable or embedded medicaldevices such as computerized intravenous (IV) drip devices, and/or otherautomated medication dispensing devices.

Further, one or more home security systems, such as the home securitysystem 411, may be integrated in to or as part of the HAS 400. Ingeneral, the home security system 411 may detect motion, when a user hasarmed/disarmed the home security system 411, when windows/doors areopened or broken, etc. The receiver 340 may adjust settings of the homeautomation devices of FIG. 4 based on home security system 411 beingarmed or disarmed. For example, a virtual control and alarm panel may bepresented to a user via the display device 430. The functions of a wallmounted panel alarm can be integrated in the graphical user interface ofthe TV viewing experience such as a menu system with an underlying treehierarchical structure. It is contemplated that the virtual control andalarm panel can appear in a full screen or PiP (Picture-in-Picture) withTV content. Alarms and event notifications may be in the form ofscrolling text overlays, popups, flashing icons, etc.

Additionally, camera video and/or audio, such as from the securitycamera 412, can be integrated with DVR content provided by the PTR 140with additional search, zoom, time-line capabilities. The camera's videostream can be displayed full screen, PiP with TV content, or as a tiledmosaic to display multiple camera's streams at a same time. In someexamples, the display can switch between camera streams at fixedintervals. The PTR 140 may perform video scaling, adjust frame rate andtranscoding on video received from the security camera 412. In addition,the receiver 340 may adaptively transcode the camera content to match anInternet connection. Here, as well as in other instances of homeautomation related data as acquired and served to the receiver 340and/or overlay device 428 by particular elements of FIG. 4, the homesecurity system 411 may be controlled via interaction with particularcontrols as provided within or by an EPG or like interface, andinformation or data as acquired by the home security system 411 may bemanipulated, consolidated, etc., as desired, and also made accessiblewithin or by an EPG or like interface in accordance with the principlesof the present disclosure.

Additional forms of appliance controllers and sensors not illustrated inFIG. 4 may also be incorporated as part of the HAS 400 in variousembodiments. For instance, doorbell sensors and mailbox sensors, garagedoor sensors, and the like, may be implemented in the HAS 400 to detectand identify visitors at the user's location. The ability to control oneor more showers, baths, faucets and/or external irrigation systems fromthe receiver 340 and/or the third party device 420 may also be providedin some embodiments. In some examples, a vehicle “dashcam” may upload orotherwise make video/audio available to the receiver 340 when withinrange of a particular residence. For instance, when a vehicle has beenparked within range of a local wireless network with which the receiver340 is connected, video and/or audio may be transmitted from the dashcamto the receiver 340 for storage and/or uploading to a remote server.Such systems or sensors or devices may be controlled via interactionwith particular controls as provided within or by an EPG or likeinterface, and information or data as acquired by such systems orsensors or devices may be manipulated, consolidated, etc., as desired,and also made accessible within or by an EPG or like interface incertain embodiments.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a block diagram is shown illustrating thecomponent of an example IoT device 110, which may be utilized asdescribed in the embodiments described herein. It should be noted thatFIG. 5 is meant to provide only a general illustration of variouscomponents, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate. Asdiscussed above, IoT devices 110 may include, for example, securitysystems, intruder and fire alarm systems, utility meters (e.g., for gas,water, electrical, etc.), weather sensors, facility management services,vehicle-based systems, personal appliances/health monitoring devices,industrial appliances and systems (e.g., PLC devices), personalelectronic appliances, person or animal tracking devices, lightingsystems or speaking systems in public or commercial environments, orgovernmental infrastructure devices (e.g., street lamps, traffic lights,trash bins, etc.). In further examples, IoT devices 110 may include anyof the devices described above within the IoT network 200 of FIG. 2, orthe HAS system 400 of FIG. 4. Because IoT devices 110 may vary widely infunctionality, any particular IoT device 110 may include only a subsetof the components shown in FIG. 5. Additionally, in some cases,components illustrated in FIG. 5 may be localized to a single physicaldevice and/or distributed among various networked devices, which may bedisposed at different physical locations.

The IoT device 110 is shown in FIG. 5 comprising hardware elements thatcan be electrically coupled via a bus 505 (or may otherwise be incommunication, as appropriate). The hardware elements may include aprocessing unit(s) 510 which may comprise without limitation one or moregeneral-purpose processors, one or more special-purpose processors (suchas digital signal processing (DSP) chips, graphics accelerationprocessors, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and/or thelike), and/or other processing structure or means, which can beconfigured to perform one or more of the methods described herein. Asshown in FIG. 5, some embodiments may have a separate DSP 520, dependingon desired functionality. The IoT device 110 also may comprise one ormore input devices 570, which may comprise without limitation one ormore touch screens, touch pads, microphones, buttons, dials, switches,and/or the like; and one or more output devices 515, which may comprisewithout limitation, one or more displays, light emitting diode (LED)s,speakers, and/or the like.

The IoT device 110 may also include a wireless communication interface530, which may comprise without limitation a modem, a network card, aninfrared communication device, a wireless communication device, and/or achipset (such as a Bluetooth® device, an IEEE 802.11 device, an IEEE802.15.4 device, a Wi-Fi device, a WiMax device, cellular communicationfacilities, etc.), and/or the like, which may enable IoT device 110 tocommunicate via the networks and RATs described above with regard toFIG. 1. The wireless communication interface 530 may permit data to becommunicated with a network, wireless access points, wireless basestations, other computer systems, and/or any other electronic devicesdescribed herein. The communication can be carried out via one or morewireless communication antenna(s) 532 that send and/or receive wirelesssignals 534.

Depending on desired functionality, the wireless communication interface530 may comprise separate transceivers to communicate with base stations(e.g., eNBs) and other terrestrial transceivers, such as wirelessdevices and access points, belonging to or associated with one or morewireless networks. These wireless networks may comprise various networktypes. For example, a WWAN may be a CDMA network, a Time DivisionMultiple Access (TDMA) network, a Frequency Division Multiple Access(FDMA) network, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA)network, a Single-Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA)network, a WiMax (IEEE 802.16) network, and so on. A CDMA network mayimplement one or more radio access technologies (RATs) such as cdma2000,Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), and so on. Cdma2000 includes IS-95, IS-2000,and/or IS-856 standards. A TDMA network may implement GSM, DigitalAdvanced Mobile Phone System (D-AMPS), or some other RAT. An OFDMAnetwork may employ LTE, LTE Advanced, NR and so on. LTE, LTE Advanced,NR, GSM, and WCDMA are described (or being described) in documents from3GPP. Cdma2000 is described in documents from a consortium named “3rdGeneration Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2). 3GPP and 3GPP2 documents arepublicly available. A WLAN may also be an IEEE 802.11x network, and aWPAN may be a Bluetooth network, an IEEE 802.15x, or some other type ofnetwork. The techniques described herein may also be used for anycombination of WWAN, WLAN and/or WPAN.

The IoT device 110 may further include sensor(s) 540. Such sensors maycomprise, without limitation, one or more accelerometer(s),gyroscope(s), camera(s), magnetometer(s), altimeter(s), microphone(s),proximity sensor(s), light sensor(s), and the like. Some or all of thesensor(s) 540 can be utilized, among other things, for sensing/detectinglocation data (e.g., sights, sounds, smells, substances, temperatures,etc.) at the location of the IoT device 110, or for obtainingoperational status of an appliance or electrical device, and/orobtaining other types of data that may be communicated to an IoTapplication server 135.

Embodiments of IoT device 110 may also include an SPS receiver 580capable of receiving signals 584 from one or more SPS satellites usingan SPS antenna 582, which may be combined with antenna(s) 532 in someimplementations. Positioning of IoT device 110 using SPS receiver 580may be utilized to complement and/or incorporate the techniquesdescribed herein, e.g. may be used to obtain sensor data by IoT device110. The SPS receiver 580 may support measurement of signals from SPSSVs of an SPS system, such as a GNSS (e.g., Global Positioning System(GPS)), Galileo, GLONASS, Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) overJapan, Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) over India,Beidou over China, and/or the like. Moreover, the SPS receiver 580 maybe used with various augmentation systems (e.g., a Satellite BasedAugmentation System (SBAS)) that may be associated with or otherwiseenabled for use with one or more global and/or regional navigationsatellite systems. By way of example but not limitation, an SBAS mayinclude an augmentation system(s) that provides integrity information,differential corrections, etc., such as, e.g., Wide Area AugmentationSystem (WAAS), European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service(EGNOS), Multi -functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), GPSAided Geo Augmented Navigation or GPS and Geo Augmented Navigationsystem (GAGAN), and/or the like. Thus, as used herein an SPS may includeany combination of one or more global and/or regional navigationsatellite systems and/or augmentation systems, and SPS signals mayinclude SPS, SPS-like, and/or other signals associated with such one ormore SPS.

Additionally, the IoT device 110 may include a cryptocurrency wallet525. Cryptocurrency wallet 525 may include one or more executablesoftware components configured to stores private and public keys, and tointeract with one or more cryptocurrency blockchains to enable the IoTdevice to send and receive digital currency. In some embodiments, one ormore types of cryptocurrency may be preloaded onto an IoT device 110,along with predefined instructions specifying when and how muchcryptocurrency the IoT device 110 may exchange to an NB-IoT networkservice provider in exchange for network access. Additionally oralternatively, an IoT device 110 may receive transfers of cryptocurrencyfrom the network service provider (or other third-party system) inexchange for providing access to its sensor data. Thus, IoT devices 110may be entirely standalone devices with respect to funding their ownNB-IoT network access. In other cases, multiple related IoT devices 110(e.g., commonly owned) may be configured to exchange cryptocurrencieswith one another and/or with the primary cryptocurrency accounts of theowner.

The IoT device 110 may further include and/or be in communication with amemory 560. The memory 560 may comprise, without limitation, localand/or network accessible storage, a disk drive, a drive array, anoptical storage device, a solid-state storage device, such as a randomaccess memory (“RAM”), and/or a read-only memory (“ROM”), which can beprogrammable, flash-updateable, and/or the like. Such storage devicesmay be configured to implement any appropriate data stores, includingwithout limitation, various file systems, database structures, and/orthe like. The memory 560 may be used, among other things, to storesensor data received from sensors 540 using a database, linked list, orany other type of data structure. In some embodiments, wirelesscommunication interface 530 may additionally or alternatively comprisememory.

The memory 560 of IoT device 110 also can comprise software elements(not shown), including an operating system, device drivers, executablelibraries, and/or other code, such as one or more application programs,which may comprise computer programs provided by various embodiments,and/or may be designed to implement methods, and/or configure systems,provided by other embodiments, as described herein. Merely by way ofexample, one or more procedures described with respect to thefunctionality for IoT device 110 discussed above might be implemented ascode and/or instructions executable by IoT device 110 (and/or aprocessing unit within the IoT device 110). In an aspect, then, suchcode and/or instructions can be used to configure and/or adapt a generalpurpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations inaccordance with the described methods.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a flow diagram is shown illustrating an exampleprocess of selecting and providing an IoT device 110 to a user, so thatthe IoT device 110 will be capable of interacting with the IoT deviceactivation and management server 140 to autonomously request, negotiate,and obtain access to the NB-IoT network 115. As described below, thesteps in this process may be performed by the IoT device activation andmanagement server 140 and/or other related components, in response to arequest from a customer for a particular IoT device 110. However, itshould be understood that various other devices or combinations ofsystems/devices in FIGS. 1-4 may be used to perform the steps describedbelow.

In step 601, the IoT device activation and management server 140 mayreceive a request for an IoT device 110 from a customer. The type of IoTdevice 110 requested need not be relevant for the purposes of thisexample, as any type of IoT device 110 may be selected,configured/provisioned, and provided to the customer to supportautonomous activation and network access. Therefore, the IoT device 110requested in step 601 may be, for example, a security system or alarmdevice, a utility meter device, a weather sensor device, a facilitymanagement device, a wearable health monitor device, an item or persontracking device, an industrial appliance monitor device, a governmentalinfrastructure device, and/or any other IoT device or electronic sensordevice described herein. In some embodiments, a customer may an initiatea purchase of an IoT device 110 via a web site controlled by the IoTdevice activation and management server 140. Additionally oralternatively, the customer may purchase the IoT device 110 from athird-party provider, wherein the third-party provider is configured tosupport one or more of the purchase and configuration options in steps602-604 below.

After the selection of the generic IoT device 110 step 601, steps602-604 relate to customizing the generic IoT device 110 to performautonomous activation and registration, without any customerintervention (or minimal customer intervention), once the customerreceives and installs the device 110 at the desired location. In variousembodiments, the generic IoT device 110 selected in step 601 may becustomized simply by selecting certain device features and/or purchaseoptions, so that the IoT device 110 is still an entirely off-the-shelfproduct. Additional customization might not involve directly customizingthe IoT device 110, but instead recording a unique device ID of the IoTdevice (e.g., product number, serial number, etc.) in a database 145with the associated user and/or other associated devices. Still othertypes of customization may involve directly modifying the IoT device110, for example, by writing registration/network access data into thedevice memory 560, or loading a requested amount of cryptocurrency intothe device's cryptocurrency wallet 525. Additionally, as indicated bythe dotted lines around each of steps 602-604, these steps may beoptional, so that one, two, or all three of these steps may be performedin various embodiments.

In step 602, the selected IoT device 110 may be associated with thecustomer that initiated the purchase of the device in step 610. As notedabove, this step may be optional and need not be performed in all cases,including purchases of IoT devices 110 from third-party providers orreceiving used/second-hand devices from other customers. When an IoTdevice 110 is associated with the customer and/or the customer's accountin step 602, the association may be done by writing into the memory 560of the device 110. Alternatively (or additionally), the IoT deviceactivation and management server 140 may enter a record into database145 associated a device identifier of the purchased IoT device 110 withthe customer identifier (e.g, name, account number) of the customerpurchasing the device. Thus, the IoT device activation and managementserver 140 may have records associating a particular customer withmultiple different IoT devices 110.

In step 603, the selected IoT device 110 may be preconfigured with datasharing rules and/or network access rules that may be applied during theautonomous activation process after the device 110 is installed at thecustomer's location. The data sharing rules may refer to the terms andconditions regarding which data collected/stored by the IoT device 110may be shared with a network service provider 115 or other third-party.For example, a customer might not be willing to share any of the IoTdevice's 110 data with any other entity, may be willing to share all ofthe data, or might only be willing to share certain subsets of the datacollected and stored by the IoT device 110. Additionally, in step 603,it may be specified what amount (e.g., in dollars or cryptocurrency) theIoT device 110 should charge for sharing its data. Multiple amounts maybe specified for different types of sensor data, differentamounts/frequencies of data, etc. Additionally, multiple amounts may bespecified corresponding to a preferred data price, a minimum data price,etc., to be used in the negotiation for NB-IoT network access.

Further, in some cases, an IoT device 110 may be configured so that itwill not trade its data in exchange for use of an NB-IoT network 115;however, the IoT device 110 may be willing to trade data from anotherdevice (e.g., another IoT device 110 or HAS device 390 that is owned bythe same customer), and thus the network access purchase rulesconfigured in step 603 may include data sharing rules for other devicesassociated with the IoT device 110. In other examples, the IoT device110 may be configured to indicate that it is not willing to trade itsdata, but that a customer purchasing the device 100 and/or a companythat owns the device is willing to pay for the network activation.

Also in step 603, the configuration may include network access purchaserules, which may include the terms and conditions to be programed intothe IoT device 110 for negotiating and obtaining access to the NB-IoTnetwork 115. Thus, the network access purchase rules may indicated whichtypes of data and how much of its data the IoT device 110 will exchangefor certain levels of network access, how much cryptocurrency it willexchange for certain levels of network access, etc. As discussed abovein step 602, step 603 may be performed by writing the user-selectedconfigurations directly into the memory of the IoT device 110.Alternatively, the configurations in step 603 may be performed by thecustomer selecting a particular version or flavor of the IoT device 110with the desired rules pre-programmed into the device, thus allowing theconfigured IoT device 110 to remain a standard off-the-shelf product. Inother embodiments, the IoT device 110 may be indirectly configured, bystoring the device identifier and the corresponding data sharing rulesand/or network access rules into a database 145 maintained by the IoTdevice activation and management server 140.

In step 604, the selected IoT device 110 may optionally be loaded with apredefined amount of cryptocurrency. For example, the customer mayselect one or more cryptocurrency types and corresponding amounts, tohave the manufacturer or provider of the IoT device 110 pre-load therequested amounts of cryptocurrency into the cryptocurrency wallet 525of the device 110. Similar to the above configurations, step 604 may beperformed by customizing a selected IoT device 110 with the preciseamounts cryptocurrencies selected by the customer. Alternatively, step604 may be performed by the customer selecting from one or more optionsof amounts for preloaded IoT devices 110, thus allowing the IoT device110 preloaded with cryptocurrency to remain a standard off-the-shelfproduct.

Finally, in step 605, the IoT device 110 selected in step 601 andconfigured/customized in steps 602-604, may be provided to the customer.Providing the IoT device 110 in step 605 may include shipping thephysical IoT device 110, transmitting an encrypted software image to beloaded onto a generic device 110, and the like.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a flow diagram is shown illustrating an exampleprocess of autonomously activating an IoT device 110 and provisioningthe IoT device 110 to a NB-IOT network 115, following installation ofthe device at the customer's location. As described below, the steps inthis process may be performed by IoT device 110 in conjunction with theIoT device activation and management server 140 and/or other relatedcomponents. However, it should be understood that various other devicesor combinations of systems/devices in FIGS. 1-4 may be used to performthe steps described below.

In step 701, an IoT device 110 is installed at a customer location(e.g., residence, vehicle, business, or any other location), in responseto, the installed IoT device 110 searches for at contacts an availableNB-IoT network to request access. As discussed above, although thisexample refers to an NB-IoT network, it should be understood that LTEnetworks and/or other network types configured to support IoT devices110 may be used in other embodiments. Additionally, IoT device 110 mayinitially search for compatible wireless networks and may contactmultiple separate networks in step 701.

Steps 702-709 represent one possible embodiment of a negotiation betweenthe installed IoT device 110 and the IoT device activation andmanagement server 140, in which the parties communicate to determine oneor more particular network access negotiation methods/techniques, andagree to terms by which IoT device will be activated and provisioned,and the NB-IoT network 115 may be configured to permit the IoT device110 to access the network 115. As discussed below, these steps may bebased on the customization and/or configuration of the IoT device 110performed when the device was selected or purchased by the customer. Inthis example, the IoT device activation and management server 140selects the network access negotiation methods/techniques and drives thenegotiation with the IoT device 110, in the order shown in FIG. 7 (i.e.,702—Another Payer?, then 704—Cryptocurrency Payment?, then 706—DataExchange?, and then 708—Different Device Data Exchange?). However, itshould be understood that in other implementations, these selectednegotiation methods and/or other factors may be prioritized differentlyduring the negotiation process. For example, in some embodiments,trading data (step 706) may be performed first, as it may result in aportion of overall payment but not the entire payment for the networkaccess. In such embodiments, the system may be configured to query fordata trading first, determine the partial payment based on the datatrading, and then potentially still query for a cryptocurrency paymentto cover the rest of the network access payment. Alternatively, accessmay be granted with only data trading (steps 706-707), and then if thereis a remaining balance it may be gathered as described in FIG. 8.Additionally, while the negotiation in this example may be driven by theIoT device activation and management server 140, in other examples theIoT device 110 may control the negotiation by querying the server 140with specific requests for types of payments and amounts, rather thanhaving the server 140 query the IoT device 110 as in this example. Instill other examples, both parties may drive the negotiation withinitiated offers, counteroffers, and the like.

In step 702, after receiving the initial network access request from theIoT device 110, the IoT device activation and management server 140 mayinitially inquire whether or not another payer is willing to pay fornetwork access for the IoT device 110. In some cases, rather than theserver 140 inquiring, the IoT device 110 may indicate in its initialrequest in step 601 that another party will pay for its network access.In still other cases, the other party willing to pay may be configuredinto the memory of the IoT device 110 and/or stored in a backenddatabase 145 so that the IoT device activation and management server 140may immediately detect that another party will make payment.

In some embodiments, the IoT device 110 may have no cryptocurrencycoins/tokens, and might not be willing to trade data for network access;however, the person that owns the device may be willing to pay for theIoT device 110 to be active on the network. In this example, the IoTdevice 110 may be shipped with a basic contract that indicating that athird-party will pay for the network activation (and/or identifying thethird-party payer). In other examples, a company or other organizationthat owns the IoT device 110 may be willing to pay the networkactivation for the customer. For example, a company (e.g., Amazon)making virtual assistant devices (e.g., Alexa) may pay for activation ofthe device 110 in the customer's car, in which case the device 110 maybe shipped with a basic contract indication that the Amazon will pay forthe network activation.

In step 703, the device owner or device user has agreed to pay for thenetwork activation, then the IoT device activation and management server140 may offer a smart contract to the IoT device for network access. Thedevice 110 may be configured to ask the owner/user to establishcommunication with the user's mobile device, for example, by using a QRcode, Bluetooth pairing, or similar method. For example, a QR code maybe transmitted to the user's mobile device, and when activated the QRcode may direct the user to make a payment using a standard paymentmethod (e.g., Apple Pay, credit card, etc.) to the NB-IoT accessnetwork, using the device identifier of the IoT device. After receipt ofa device confirmation and the payment, then the server 140 may provisionthe IoT device 110 (step 710) to activate the IoT device on the network115. If a company owning or manufacturing the IoT device 110 has agreedto pay for the network activation, then the IoT device activation andmanagement server 140 may again initially offer a smart contract to theIoT device with particular network access amounts, values, and/or ratesfor allowing network access to the IoT device. Because the server 140knows that the company (e.g., Amazon) has agreed to pay for the smartcontract to provide NB-IoT network access to the IoT device 110, theserver 140 may immediately provision the IoT device 110 (step 710), thencontact the trusted company for payment after activation.

In step 704, the IoT device activation and management server 140 mayquery the IoT device 110 to ask if it will pay for its NB-IoT networkaccess using cryptocurrency. As discussed above in connection with FIG.6, IoT devices 110 may be pre-loaded with various amounts ofcryptocurrencies, and may be configured with rules regarding paymentpreferences and limits for using cryptocurrency to pay for networkaccess. If the IoT device 110 respond that it will pay for networkaccess using the cryptocurrency in its wallet 525, then in step 705 theparties may negotiate the cryptocurrency amount/rate and complete thetransfer from the wallet software components 525 of the IoT device 110to the server 140 (or other payment repository). After receipt of theconfirmation from the IoT device 110 and/or successful completion of thecryptocurrency transfer from the IoT device 100, the server 140 mayprovision the IoT device 110 (step 710) to activate the IoT device onthe NB-IoT network 115.

In step 706, the IoT device activation and management server 140 mayquery the IoT device 110 again to ask if it will pay for its access tothe NB-IoT network by trading its own sensor data. As discussed above inreference FIG. 6, various IoT devices 110 may be preconfigured toexchange some or all of their data to the network provider in exchangefor network access (706:Yes), while other IoT devices 110 may beconfigured not to share any of their data with the network provider(706:No). For instance, if the IoT device plans to encrypt its data fortransmission to a separate backend server, such as an Amazon virtualassistant device Alexa 110 transmitting its data to an Amazon server,these devices 110 might not agree to share their voice data with theNB-IoT network provider.

If the IoT device 110 is willing to share some or all of its data inorder to obtain network access to the NB-IoT network 115 (706:Yes), thenIoT device 110 may respond to the query from the server 140 with apositive indication and a description of the data that the IoT device110 collects. In step 707, one or both parties (i.e., the IoT deviceactivation/management server 140, and the IoT device 110) may determinesubjective values/costs for the NB-IoT network and for the datacollected by the particular IoT device 110. For instance, the IoT deviceactivation/management server 140 may determine its costs of granting theIoT device 110 access to its NB-IoT network 115, in comparison to thevalue of the data collected by the IoT device 110. The value of the datamay be calculated based on a number of factors such as the type of databeing collection, the volume of data being collected, the location ofIoT device sensors, the geographic area, individuals, and/or deviceswithin the range of the IoT device sensors. Additionally, the value ofthe data collected by the IoT device 110 also may be based on anysubstitute data (e.g., similar data from other nearby IoT devices)and/or complementary data that the IoT device activation and managementserver 140 has access to. Similarly, the IoT device 110 may determineits costs (if any) of sharing its data with the network provider, incomparison to the value it gains by being granted access to the NB-IoTnetwork 115. Based on the subjective costs and values calculated by bothparties, an agreement may be reached in step 707 to trade some or all ofthe data collected by the IoT device 110 in exchange for allowing theIoT device to use the NB-IoT network 115. If the data amount and valuefrom the IoT device 110 exceeds the cost of the network access, then thecustomer/owner of the IoT device 110 may potentially make money byreceiving a supplement payment (e.g., in cryptocurrency) that can bestored on the IoT device 110 (e.g., in the cryptocurrency wallet 525)and/or transferred to a separate account of the customer or deviceowner.

In some embodiments, both the IoT device 110 and the IoT deviceactivation and management server 140 may periodically re-evaluate theirrespective value propositions of trading data for network access (orvice versa). Even after the parties have negotiated and agreed to adata-for-network-access trade in step 707, the costs and value gained toboth parties may change constantly based on a number of business-relatedand technical factors. Thus, as discussed below, one or both parties maywish to cease or renegotiate an agreement previously made between theparties in step 707. In some embodiments, the agreements may havecontract terms that effectively lock-in the parties for a period oftime. In other embodiments, no length term may be set and either partymay withdraw at any time.

In step 708, the IoT device activation and management server 140 mayquery the IoT device 110 once more to ask if it will pay for its accessto the NB-IoT network 115 by trading data from another related device.As discussed above, different IoT devices 110 may be commonly owned bythe same customer or business/organization, or multiple IoT devices 110may otherwise reach an agreement to share data with one other. In suchcases, if a first IoT device (110-1) has the authority to grant theNB-IoT network provider with access to the sensor data of other IoTdevices (e.g., 110-2, 110-3) or other devices, then the device 110-1 mayagree to do so in step 708 (708:Yes), in order to obtain access foritself to the NB-IoT network 115. The negotiation and agreement processin step 709 may be similar or identical to that described in step 707,with the exception that the first IoT device 110-1 is negotiating andagreeing to share data from a different device (e.g., IoT device 110-2)rather than its own data. In some embodiments the other device may ormay not already be on the network 115. Additionally, the other devicemay be another IoT device (e.g., 110-2) or it may be a connected mobilephone, computing device, or an entirely separate electronic deviceaccessible via an IoT network, cloud network, or other access network.Thus, an IoT device 110 may negotiate for and obtain NB-IoT networkaccess in exchange for the data collected by any of (and/or anycombination of) the IoT devices described in connection with FIG. 2,and/or any of the home automation system devices described in connectionwith FIG. 4.

In some embodiments, immediately following an autonomous activation instep 710, the server 140 may initiate another contract with the person(or legal entity) who owns and/or is using the IoT device 110. This isdone to ensure proper legal use of the data, and may be done by the userentering an identification document into an application, using a QR codefrom the device, and/or by using a locally transmitted communicationwith the user's smartphone (e.g., via Bluetooth, NFC, etc.). Thisconnection and contract with the person can also be used to exchangeactual currency (i.e., US Dollars).

Referring now to FIG. 8, a flow diagram is shown illustrating an exampleprocess of monitoring an active IoT device 110 on a network, afterpreviously provisioning and allowing the IoT device 110 to access thenetwork. As with FIG. 7, the steps in this process may be performed byIoT device 110 in conjunction with the IoT device activation andmanagement server 140 and/or other related components. However, itshould be understood that various other devices or combinations ofsystems/devices in FIGS. 1-4 may be used to perform the steps describedbelow.

In step 801, the usage of the NB-IoT network 115, and therecurring/periodic payments made by the IoT device 110 for access to thenetwork 115 are monitored, and in step 802 the server 140 confirmswhether both parties (i.e., the IoT device 110 and the network provider)are fulfilling the terms of their previous agreement. As discussed indetail above, the IoT device 110 may “pay” for access to the NB-IoTnetwork 115 in several different ways. First, an individual (e.g.,device owner or user) or a third-party company/organization may agree topay for the IoT device 110 to access the network (see step 703). In thiscase, if the responsible person or company stops making the requiredpayments (802:No), or notifies the server 140 that the IoT device 110should be deactivated, then in step 803 the IoT device activation andmanagement server 140 may deactivate the IoT device 110 and remote itsnetwork access. Second, the IoT device 110 may have agreed to pay incryptocurrency (see step 705). In this case, if the IoT device 110either runs out of cryptocurrency its wallet 525, or stops makingpayments for any other reason (802:No), then the IoT device 110 willalso be deactivated in step 803. Third, the IoT device 110 may haveagreed to pay by sharing its data with the network provider (see step707). In this case, if receipt of the agreed-to data from the IoT device110 stops (802:No), then the IoT device 110 will also be deactivated instep 803. Finally, the IoT device 110 may have agreed to pay by sharingdata from one or more other devices with the network provider (see step709). In this case, if receipt of the agreed-to data from the otherdevices stops (802:No), then the IoT device 110 will be deactivated instep 803.

In step 804, the IoT device activation and management server 140 mayreceive an indication of a change potentially affecting the previousagreement between an IoT device 110 and network provider. In some cases,the indication of a change in step 804 may be received as a notificationfrom the IoT device 110, or from an owner or user of the device. Inother cases, the server 140 may determine that a change has occurredbased on the characteristics of payments or data between received,and/or based on the network usage of the IoT device 110.

As shown in this example, potential changes identified in step 804 mayinclude one or more of: changes to the IoT device 110 (805:Yes), changesto the data being collected by the IoT device 110 (806:Yes), and/orchanges to the person(s) associated with the IoT device 110 (807:Yes).To illustrate, in a first use case, a solar sensor IoT device 110 isinstalled on the roof a person's house. When the person sells the house,neither the IoT device 110 nor the data being collected changes, but theperson associated with the IoT device does change (807:Yes). Therefore,in this use case, the smart contract made with the IoT device 110 maystay the same, but the server 140 may initiate a change to the person(or legal entity) contract made with the original homeowner in step 808.As a second use case, a camera IoT device 110 is installed in thekitchen of a home. When the homeowner sells the house, the IoT device110 device and its location does not change, but both the person(s)associated with the IoT device 110 and the characteristics of the databeing collected by the device 100 change (806:Yes; 807:Yes). Therefore,in this use case, the server 140 may initiate both a new smart contractand a new person/legal entity contract in step 808. As a third use case,a coffee cup IoT device 110 is sold from one user to another. When thenew person receives and begins to use the coffee cup, both the person(s)associated with the coffee cup IoT device 110 and the characteristics ofthe data being collected by the coffee cup IoT device 110 change(806:Yes; 807:Yes). Therefore, in this use case, the server 140 mayagain initiate both a new smart contract and a new person/legal entitycontract in step 808. Finally, in a fourth use case, a homeowner movesand takes his solar sensor IoT device 110 with him from his old house tohis new house. In this use case, neither the IoT device 110 nor theperson associated with the IoT device 110 changes, but thecharacteristics of the data being collected by the solar sensor IoTdevice 100 change (806:Yes). Therefore, in this use case, theperson/legal entity contract made with the homeowner may stay the same,but the server 140 may initiate a change to the smart contract made withthe solar sensor IoT device 110 in step 808.

Referring now to FIG. 9, an example is shown of a computer system ordevice 900 in accordance with the disclosure. Examples of computersystems or devices 900 may include systems, controllers, servers,monitors, sensors, or the like, an enterprise server, blade server,desktop computer, laptop computer, tablet computer, personal dataassistant, smartphone, gaming console, set-top box, television receiver,“smart” home automation-related sensor or device or system or controlleror monitor or detector, and/or any other type of machine configured forperforming calculations. Any particular one of the previously-describedcomputing devices may be wholly or at least partially configured toexhibit features similar to the computer system 900, such as any of therespective elements or components of FIGS. 1-4. In this manner, any ofone or more of the respective elements of those figures may beconfigured and/or arranged, wholly or at least partially, for selectingand providing IoT devices configured to support autonomous activationwithin a network, autonomously activating IoT devices and provisioningthe IoT devices to the network, and monitoring active IoT devices on anetwork, as discussed above. Still further, any of one or more of therespective elements of FIGS. 1-4 may be configured and/or arranged toinclude computer-readable instructions that, when executed, instantiateand implement various functionality described herein (e.g., one or moreuser output engines, devices, or services 145).

The computer device 900 is shown comprising hardware elements that maybe electrically coupled via a bus 902 (or may otherwise be incommunication, as appropriate). The hardware elements may include aprocessing unit with one or more processors 904, including withoutlimitation one or more general-purpose processors and/or one or morespecial-purpose processors (such as digital signal processing chips,graphics acceleration processors, and/or the like); one or more inputdevices 906, which may include without limitation a remote control, amouse, a keyboard, and/or the like; and one or more output devices 908,which may include without limitation a presentation device (e.g.,television), a printer, and/or the like.

The computer system 900 may further include (and/or be in communicationwith) one or more non-transitory storage devices 910, which maycomprise, without limitation, local and/or network accessible storage,and/or may include, without limitation, a disk drive, a drive array, anoptical storage device, a solid-state storage device, such as a randomaccess memory, and/or a read-only memory, which may be programmable,flash-updateable, and/or the like. Such storage devices may beconfigured to implement any appropriate data stores, including withoutlimitation, various file systems, database structures, and/or the like.

The computer device 900 might also include a communications subsystem912, which may include without limitation a modem, a network card(wireless and/or wired), an infrared communication device, a wirelesscommunication device and/or a chipset such as a Bluetooth™ device,802.11 device, WiFi device, WiMax device, cellular communicationfacilities such as GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), W-CDMA(Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), LTE (Long Term Evolution),etc., and/or the like. The communications subsystem 912 may permit datato be exchanged with a network (such as the network described below, toname one example), other computer systems, and/or any other devicesdescribed herein. In many examples, the computer system 900 will furthercomprise a working memory 914, which may include a random access memoryand/or a read-only memory device, as described above.

The computer device 900 also may comprise software elements, shown asbeing currently located within the working memory 914, including anoperating system 916, device drivers, executable libraries, and/or othercode, such as one or more application programs 918, which may comprisecomputer programs provided by various examples, and/or may be designedto implement methods, and/or configure systems, provided by otherexamples, as described herein. By way of example, one or more proceduresdescribed with respect to the method(s) discussed above, and/or systemcomponents might be implemented as code and/or instructions executableby a computer (and/or a processor within a computer); in an aspect,then, such code and/or instructions may be used to configure and/oradapt a general purpose computer (or other device) to perform one ormore operations in accordance with the described methods.

A set of these instructions and/or code might be stored on anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium, such as the storagedevice(s) 910 described above. In some cases, the storage medium mightbe incorporated within a computer system, such as computer system 900.In other examples, the storage medium might be separate from a computersystem (e.g., a removable medium, such as flash memory), and/or providedin an installation package, such that the storage medium may be used toprogram, configure, and/or adapt a general purpose computer with theinstructions/code stored thereon. These instructions might take the formof executable code, which is executable by the computer device 900and/or might take the form of source and/or installable code, which,upon compilation and/or installation on the computer system 900 (e.g.,using any of a variety of generally available compilers, installationprograms, compression/decompression utilities, etc.), then takes theform of executable code.

It will be apparent that substantial variations may be made inaccordance with specific requirements. For example, customized hardwaremight also be used, and/or particular elements might be implemented inhardware, software (including portable software, such as applets, etc.),or both. Further, connection to other computing devices such as networkinput/output devices may be employed.

As mentioned above, in one aspect, some examples may employ a computersystem (such as the computer device 900) to perform methods inaccordance with various examples of the disclosure. According to a setof examples, some or all of the procedures of such methods are performedby the computer system 900 in response to processor 904 executing one ormore sequences of one or more instructions (which might be incorporatedinto the operating system 916 and/or other code, such as an applicationprogram 918) contained in the working memory 914. Such instructions maybe read into the working memory 914 from another computer-readablemedium, such as one or more of the storage device(s) 910. Merely by wayof example, execution of the sequences of instructions contained in theworking memory 914 may cause the processor(s) 904 to perform one or moreprocedures of the methods described herein.

The terms “machine-readable medium” and “computer-readable medium,” asused herein, may refer to any non-transitory medium that participates inproviding data that causes a machine to operate in a specific fashion.In an example implemented using the computer device 900, variouscomputer-readable media might be involved in providing instructions/codeto processor(s) 904 for execution and/or might be used to store and/orcarry such instructions/code. In many implementations, acomputer-readable medium is a physical and/or tangible storage medium.Such a medium may take the form of a non-volatile media or volatilemedia. Non-volatile media may include, for example, optical and/ormagnetic disks, such as the storage device(s) 910. Volatile media mayinclude, without limitation, dynamic memory, such as the working memory914.

Example forms of physical and/or tangible computer-readable media mayinclude a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, or anyother magnetic medium, a compact disc, any other optical medium, ROM(Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), and etc., any othermemory chip or cartridge, or any other medium from which a computer mayread instructions and/or code. Various forms of computer-readable mediamay be involved in carrying one or more sequences of one or moreinstructions to the processor(s) 904 for execution. By way of example,the instructions may initially be carried on a magnetic disk and/oroptical disc of a remote computer. A remote computer might load theinstructions into its dynamic memory and send the instructions assignals over a transmission medium to be received and/or executed by thecomputer system 900.

The communications subsystem 912 (and/or components thereof) generallywill receive signals, and the bus 902 then might carry the signals(and/or the data, instructions, etc. carried by the signals) to theworking memory 914, from which the processor(s) 904 retrieves andexecutes the instructions. The instructions received by the workingmemory 914 may optionally be stored on a non-transitory storage device910 either before or after execution by the processor(s) 904. It shouldfurther be understood that the components of computer device 900 can bedistributed across a network. For example, some processing may beperformed in one location using a first processor while other processingmay be performed by another processor remote from the first processor.Other components of computer system 900 may be similarly distributed. Assuch, computer device 900 may be interpreted as a distributed computingsystem that performs processing in multiple locations. In someinstances, computer system 900 may be interpreted as a single computingdevice, such as a distinct laptop, desktop computer, or the like,depending on the context.

The methods, systems, and devices discussed above are examples. Variousconfigurations may omit, substitute, or add various method steps orprocedures, or system components as appropriate. For instance, inalternative configurations, the methods may be performed in an orderdifferent from that described, and/or various stages or steps or modulesmay be added, omitted, and/or combined. Also, features described withrespect to certain configurations may be combined in various otherconfigurations. Different aspects and elements of the configurations maybe combined in a similar manner. Also, technology evolves and, thus,many of the elements are examples and do not limit the scope of thedisclosure or claims.

Specific details are given in the description to provide a thoroughunderstanding of example configurations (including implementations).However, configurations may be practiced without these specific details.For example, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, andtechniques have been shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoidobscuring the configurations. This description provides exampleconfigurations only, and does not limit the scope, applicability, orconfigurations of the claims. Rather, the preceding description of theconfigurations will provide those of skill with an enabling descriptionfor implementing described techniques. Various changes may be made inthe function and arrangement of elements without departing from thespirit or scope of the disclosure.

Also, configurations may be described as a process which is depicted asa flow diagram or block diagram. Although each may describe theoperations as a sequential process, many of the operations may beperformed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of theoperations may be rearranged. A process may have additional steps notincluded in the figure. Furthermore, examples of the methods may beimplemented by hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode,hardware description languages, or any combination thereof. Whenimplemented in software, firmware, middleware, or microcode, the programcode or code segments to perform the necessary tasks may be stored in anon-transitory computer-readable medium such as a storage medium.Processors may perform the described tasks.

Furthermore, the examples described herein may be implemented as logicaloperations in a computing device in a networked computing systemenvironment. The logical operations may be implemented as: (i) asequence of computer implemented instructions, steps, or program modulesrunning on a computing device; and (ii) interconnected logic or hardwaremodules running within a computing device.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An Internet-of-Things (IoT) device activationserver, comprising: a processing unit comprising one or more processors;and memory coupled with and readable by the processing unit and storingtherein a set of computer-executable instructions which, when executedby the processing unit, causes the IoT device activation server to:receive a request from an IoT device for access to a first wirelessnetwork; determine a particular network access negotiation method forthe IoT device, based on data received from the IoT device, wherein theIoT device activation server supports a plurality of network accessnegotiation methods; determine at least one of a network access value ornetwork access rate for providing wireless network access to the IoTdevice, based on (a) the data received from the IoT device, and (b) theparticular network access negotiation method determined for the IoTdevice; transmit the determined at least one network access value ornetwork access rate to the IoT device; receive, from the IoT device, adevice confirmation in response to at least one network access value ornetwork access rate; and in response to the device confirmation,configure the first wireless network to enable network access by the IoTdevice.
 2. The IoT device activation server of claim 1, wherein thefirst wireless network comprises a narrowband Internet-of-Things(NB-IoT) network.
 3. The IoT device activation server of claim 1,wherein the data received from the IoT device comprises a deviceidentifier, and wherein determining the particular network accessnegotiation method for the IoT device comprises: determining, based onthe received device identifier, that a third-party entity is responsiblefor providing network access for the IoT device.
 4. The IoT deviceactivation server of claim 1, wherein determining the particular networkaccess negotiation method for the IoT device comprises: receiving, fromthe IoT, one or more characteristics of sensor data collected by the IoTdevice; and selecting, based on the characteristics of the sensor datacollected by the IoT device, a sensor data for network access exchangemethod as the particular network access negotiation method for the IoTdevice, and wherein the determined at least one network access value ornetwork access rate comprises an amount of the sensor data collected bythe IoT device.
 5. The IoT device activation server of claim 4, thememory storing therein additional computer-executable instructionswhich, when executed by the processing unit, cause the IoT deviceactivation server to: provide the IoT device with ongoing access to thefirst wireless network, in accordance with the network access value ornetwork access rate; during the ongoing access to the first wirelessnetwork, by the IoT device, detect a change in the characteristics ofthe sensor data received by the IoT device; in response to the change inthe characteristics of the sensor data received by the IoT device,determine an updated network access value or network access rate forproviding wireless network access to the IoT device; transmit theupdated network access value or network access rate to the IoT device;and receive, from the IoT device, a device confirmation in response tothe updated network access value or network access rate.
 6. The IoTdevice activation server of claim 1, wherein determining the particularnetwork access negotiation method for the IoT device comprises:receiving, from the IoT, an indication that an amount of cryptocurrencyis stored on the IoT device; and determining a cryptocurrency paymentmethod as the particular network access negotiation method for the IoTdevice, and wherein the determined at least one network access value ornetwork access rate comprises a cryptocurrency amount or rate to beprovided by the IoT device in exchange for access to the first wirelessnetwork.
 7. The IoT device activation server of claim 1, whereindetermining the particular network access negotiation method for the IoTdevice comprises: receiving, from the IoT device, at least one of an IoTdevice identifier or an account identifier associated with the IoTdevice; determining one or more additional IoT devices associated withthe IoT device, based on the at least one IoT device identifier oraccount identifier received from the IoT device; retrieving, from theone or more additional IoT devices associated with the IoT device, oneor more characteristics of sensor data collected by the additional IoTdevices; and selecting, based on the characteristics of the sensor datacollected by the one or more additional IoT devices, a third-partysensor data for network access exchange method as the particular networkaccess negotiation method for the IoT device.
 8. A method of configuringa wireless network to enable network access by an Internet-of-Things(IoT) device, the method comprising: receiving, by an IoT deviceactivation server, a request from an IoT device for request for accessto a first wireless network; determining, by the IoT device activationserver, a particular network access negotiation method for the IoTdevice, based on data received from the IoT device, wherein the IoTdevice activation server supports a plurality of network accessnegotiation methods; determining, by the IoT device activation server,at least one of a network access value or network access rate forproviding wireless network access to the IoT device, based on (a) thedata received from the IoT device, and (b) the particular network accessnegotiation method determined for the IoT device; transmitting, by theIoT device activation server, the determined at least one network accessvalue or network access rate to the IoT device; receiving, by the IoTdevice activation server and from the IoT device, a device confirmationin response to at least one network access value or network access rate;and in response to the device confirmation, configuring, by the IoTdevice activation server, the first wireless network to enable networkaccess by the IoT device.
 9. The method of configuring a wirelessnetwork to enable network access by an IoT device of claim 8, whereinthe first wireless network comprises a narrowband Internet-of-Things(NB-IoT) network.
 10. The method of configuring a wireless network toenable network access by an IoT device of claim 8, wherein the datareceived from the IoT device comprises a device identifier, and whereindetermining the particular network access negotiation method for the IoTdevice comprises: determining, based on the received device identifier,that a third-party entity is responsible for providing network accessfor the IoT device.
 11. The method of configuring a wireless network toenable network access by an IoT device of claim 8, wherein determiningthe particular network access negotiation method for the IoT devicecomprises: receiving, from the IoT, one or more characteristics ofsensor data collected by the IoT device; and selecting, based on thecharacteristics of the sensor data collected by the IoT device, a sensordata for network access exchange method as the particular network accessnegotiation method for the IoT device, and wherein the determined atleast one network access value or network access rate comprises anamount of the sensor data collected by the IoT device.
 12. The method ofconfiguring a wireless network to enable network access by an IoT deviceof claim 11, further comprising: providing the IoT device with ongoingaccess to the first wireless network, in accordance with the networkaccess value or network access rate; during the ongoing access to thefirst wireless network, by the IoT device, detecting a change in thecharacteristics of the sensor data received by the IoT device; inresponse to the change in the characteristics of the sensor datareceived by the IoT device, determining an updated network access valueor network access rate for providing wireless network access to the IoTdevice; transmitting the updated network access value or network accessrate to the IoT device; and receiving, from the IoT device, a deviceconfirmation in response to the updated network access value or networkaccess rate.
 13. The method of configuring a wireless network to enablenetwork access by an IoT device of claim 8, wherein determining theparticular network access negotiation method for the IoT devicecomprises: receiving, from the IoT, an indication that an amount ofcryptocurrency is stored on the IoT device; and determining acryptocurrency payment method as the particular network accessnegotiation method for the IoT device, and wherein the determined atleast one network access value or network access rate comprises acryptocurrency amount or rate to be provided by the IoT device inexchange for access to the first wireless network.
 14. The method ofconfiguring a wireless network to enable network access by an IoT deviceof claim 8, wherein determining the particular network accessnegotiation method for the IoT device comprises: receiving, from the IoTdevice, at least one of an IoT device identifier or an accountidentifier associated with the IoT device; determining one or moreadditional IoT devices associated with the IoT device, based on the atleast one IoT device identifier or account identifier received from theIoT device; retrieving, from the one or more additional IoT devicesassociated with the IoT device, one or more characteristics of sensordata collected by the additional IoT devices; and selecting, based onthe characteristics of the sensor data collected by the one or moreadditional IoT devices, a third-party sensor data for network accessexchange method as the particular network access negotiation method forthe IoT device.
 15. A non-transitory computer-readable memory comprisinga set of instructions stored therein which, when executed by aprocessing unit within a computer server, causes the processing unit to:receive a request from an IoT device for access to a first wirelessnetwork; determine a particular network access negotiation method forthe IoT device, based on data received from the IoT device, wherein thecomputer server supports a plurality of network access negotiationmethods; determine at least one of a network access value or networkaccess rate for providing wireless network access to the IoT device,based on (a) the data received from the IoT device, and (b) theparticular network access negotiation method determined for the IoTdevice; transmit the determined at least one network access value ornetwork access rate to the IoT device; receive, from the IoT device, adevice confirmation in response to at least one network access value ornetwork access rate; and in response to the device confirmation,configure the first wireless network to enable network access by the IoTdevice.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readable memory of claim 15,wherein the data received from the IoT device comprises a deviceidentifier, and wherein determining the particular network accessnegotiation method for the IoT device comprises: determining, based onthe received device identifier, that a third-party entity is responsiblefor providing network access for the IoT device.
 17. The non-transitorycomputer-readable memory of claim 15, wherein determining the particularnetwork access negotiation method for the IoT device comprises:receiving, from the IoT, one or more characteristics of sensor datacollected by the IoT device; and selecting, based on the characteristicsof the sensor data collected by the IoT device, a sensor data fornetwork access exchange method as the particular network accessnegotiation method for the IoT device, and wherein the determined atleast one network access value or network access rate comprises anamount of the sensor data collected by the IoT device.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer-readable memory of claim 17, comprisingadditional instructions which, when executed by the processing unit,causes the processing unit to: provide the IoT device with ongoingaccess to the first wireless network, in accordance with the networkaccess value or network access rate; during the ongoing access to thefirst wireless network, by the IoT device, detect a change in thecharacteristics of the sensor data received by the IoT device; inresponse to the change in the characteristics of the sensor datareceived by the IoT device, determine an updated network access value ornetwork access rate for providing wireless network access to the IoTdevice; transmit the updated network access value or network access rateto the IoT device; and receive, from the IoT device, a deviceconfirmation in response to the updated network access value or networkaccess rate.
 19. The non-transitory computer-readable memory of claim15, wherein determining the particular network access negotiation methodfor the IoT device comprises: receiving, from the IoT, an indicationthat an amount of cryptocurrency is stored on the IoT device; anddetermining a cryptocurrency payment method as the particular networkaccess negotiation method for the IoT device, and wherein the determinedat least one network access value or network access rate comprises acryptocurrency amount or rate to be provided by the IoT device inexchange for access to the first wireless network.
 20. Thenon-transitory computer-readable memory of claim 15, wherein determiningthe particular network access negotiation method for the IoT devicecomprises: receiving, from the IoT device, at least one of an IoT deviceidentifier or an account identifier associated with the IoT device;determining one or more additional IoT devices associated with the IoTdevice, based on the at least one IoT device identifier or accountidentifier received from the IoT device; retrieving, from the one ormore additional IoT devices associated with the IoT device, one or morecharacteristics of sensor data collected by the additional IoT devices;and selecting, based on the characteristics of the sensor data collectedby the one or more additional IoT devices, a third-party sensor data fornetwork access exchange method as the particular network accessnegotiation method for the IoT device.